Tales of an Eevee Pack
by DuffleGamer
Summary: 7 Eevees were ready for the evolution ceremony. They went over to the beach, sad that they couldn't get a 8th Eevee and fulfill the prophecy. However, when a 8th Eevee washes up on shore, claiming to be a human, their lives change drastically, be it for better or worse...
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, Duffle here. You might be wondering "Wait a minute, this isn't the Tournament of Power!" and you'd be right! I've decided to add in a second story alongside that one in order to keep my ideas steady. I will not ignore the other stories like i did before, but since I'm uploading twice a day, I can get both stories moving.**

 **Anyways, this was an idea I've had for a while now that I've never really been able to put into words. But after a little bit of motivation, I managed to get the ideas I need to make this work! So I hope you all enjoy it and as usual, I only own the OCs, and not Pokemon itself.**

Chapter 1: A Stroke of Luck…?

"Someone help him out! We're going to lose the sail!"

Many crew members frantically ran around the ship, trying to stop it from sinking. People were falling off the ship and going into a panic, while a 16 year old boy was frozen in fear. He had no idea what was going, and it was getting worse and worse by the second.

It was a normal trip, just like any other. They were to deliver some supplies, and yet this was no natural storm. It seemed very… unnatural.

 _I don't understand… What kind of Pokemon would attack a human ship like this?_

While the boy was lost in thought, without any warning, a lightning bolt struck the ship and the boy was thrown off the ship. He landed with a crash in the water, begging for air. The pain was unbearable, and he didn't know how much longer he could last. He could feel his consciousness fading, and before long, he blacked out.

* * *

A group of 5 Eevees walked up to a cliffside. The sun was setting on the horizon as it glittered on the sea. The Eevee with a dark blue bandana on sighed as she saw the sunset.

"So after all that, we still couldn't manage to find an 8th Eevee…" Aqua said.

The Eevee with a Yellow bandana looked at her. "Aqua, don't worry about it. We don't need to stinkin' prophecy. We can go fight the bandits ourselves."

"Of course you would say that, Volt. You're always just rushing into things." Diana, the one with the pink bandana, said.

Volt glared at her. "Well excuuuuse me, Princess, but unlike you guys I like to get things done." He turned away, huffing.

Frost chuckled. "You guys are so funny." She put her head down on her paws. "Still though, it would've been cool that we would fulfill the prophecy. We're the closest we've ever gotten."

Leaf nodded. "You're right, but it's whatever." She smiled. "I'm just so happy, we're finally evolving tomorrow!" Leaf started shaking in excitement.

Volt chuckled. "Yeah, I guess we are, huh?"

"It feels like it was just yesterday when we all first met and agreed on out evolutions… But here we are, ready to evolve soon. It's all so riveting." Aqua gave a smile.

Suddenly, two more Eevees, with purple and black bandanas respectively, walked up to the group.

"Hello, everyone." Said Dawn, the one with the purple bandana.

Volt turned back. "Hey Dawn, I see you finally decided to leave your house?" This earned him a slap on the back of the head from Diana.

"Yes, and I managed to bring Dusk with me." Dusk shied away a little bit.

The two looked out at sea and saw a figure floating to shore. "Hey guys, doesn't that look like…"

Everyone looked at where they were pointing and saw a strange figure floating in the water. As it landed onto the shore they realized that it was an Eevee.

Frost quickly stood. "Oh my Arceus… We need to go help him!" Frost ran down the cliffside and towards the body.

The other Eevees got up and quickly ran after her. Frost dragged the Eevee onto shore and started applying pressure onto his chest. After a while, he coughed up some water and began to open his eyes.

"What the…" The Eevee looked around him, seeing multiple Eevees staring down at him. He got up and rubbed his head.

"Geez… What happened… Where am I…" He blinked a couple of times.

"You're on Peachy Beach!" Diana said, happily.

The Eevee paused, looking at Diana wide eyed. "Did… You just talk?"

Diana looked at him, confused. "Yes I did…?"

The Eevee looked down at himself. _Paws… Brown Fur…_

Frost tapped his shoulder. "You _are_ an Eevee, right?"

"An… Eevee? No, I'm a human! I…" He looked at his paws, confused.

"Pfft, get real, man! You're not a human." Volt gave him a light punch on the arm.

"Actually… I remember the Professor saying something about this…" Dusk said, as everyone looked at him. "'Far off of our coasts, a human boy will be cast away, and he will become one with us.' I didn't know what he meant back then, but I think this is what he meant."

"Bah, who cares about all that! Do you guys know what this means? We've got a full group of Eevees! This guy is our Flareon!" Leaf shouted.

"Hold up, Flareon?" He raised an eyebrow.

Vaporeon shook her head. "Don't worry about it, I'll fill you in later. For now, what's your name?"

"My name? It's uh…" He scrunched his head. "...Pyro."

Of course, that wasn't his _actual_ name, but… might as well go along with the whole Flareon thing.

Frost giggled. "Wow, that's so convenient!" Frost grabbed Pyro's paw. "Cmon, let's go back to the village."

Pyro nodded and followed her to the village.

The other Eevees stayed in place for a little bit.

"You guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Diana asked.

Leaf smiled. "We're gonna be heroes of prophecy! This is soooo awesome!"

 **End of Chapter 1**

 **Alright, Chapter 1 is done! Took a little while, but hey, I think it turned out really well. If you liked it, make sure to like and follow it so you'll be notified when it's updated. And of course, if you disliked this story or want to see more of my other one, leave a review telling me so, as any and all feedback is appreciated! Anyways, this is Duffle, signing off. Deuces!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Duffle here once again with a new chapter. Apparently a lot of you liked this story right off the bat, and if I see more support in the future I might prioritize it more than normal. Just a little food for thought.**

 **Either way, I hope you all enjoy the chapter and I do not own Pokemon!**

Chapter 2: Evolution Like a Charm

Frost and Pyro soon approached a cluster of houses. "Welcome to Ram Village! It's not that large, but it's a great place to live. I love it a lot." She gave a little giggle. Pyro just smiled and kept walking.

"Over here we've got some shops. You can buy whatever you need, be it healing items, food, whatever. And over there-" Frost pointed. "-is the announcements stage. We make important village announcements or even do some plays there. Make sure you know how to get there."

Pyro was just silently nodding, looking around. _So… this is my new life? It's a nice place, sure, but… It just feels weird. I may not remember a whole lot from my old life, probably because I was too young to remember, but it was still nice… right?_

"Pyro, are you listening to me?" Pyro snapped out of his daydream and nodded. "Y-yes… ma'am…"

Frost giggled when she heard ma'am. "Pyro, we're like… roughly the same age. We don't need any of this 'ma'am' stuff."

Pyro just sweat dropped.

"Anyways, as I was saying, this is the explorer guild. Our town is well known for having one of the best guilds there is, and most of our young adults come here." She raised a paw. "Of course, since you're not evolved yet, you can't quite sign up. You have to wait until the Evolution Ceremony until you can sign up."

Pyro's face scrunched up in confusion, but he quickly shook it off. _Evolution ceremony… Must have something to do with the Eevees, I assume._

"And here are the village houses! We're kind of out of houses, so you'll have to share…" Before Frost could finish, Volt came in between the two Eevees. "-With me. My name's Volt, if you didn't catch it before. I'm gonna be your roommate, so better get used to me!"

Volt quickly grabbed Pyro's paw and dragged him off to his house. Frost was left there, shocked. Leaf walked up and shook her head. "Ugh, did Volt run off with the new guy? What a jerk! I wanna talk to him!" Leaf turned to Frost. "So…. How is he? Cute? Funny? Tough? All of the above?!"

Frost sweat dropped. "Geez Leaf, calm down, I've only just met him."

Leaf was basically jumping up and down. "I know, but it's just so exciting! A mysterious Eevee claiming to be a human? How awesome is that?!"

"Well… It's a bit peculiar, in my opinion. But he seems nice enough." Frost brushed back Leaf's hair. "C'mon, let's go get ready for the Evolution Ceremony."

Leaf's jaw dropped. "Oh my gosh, I forgot that was today! You're right, we need to go get ready!" Leaf ran off, with Frost barely keeping up behind her.

* * *

Diana and Aqua were walking back up from the beach. "So, Aqua, tell me. What do you think of this mysterious new guy?"

"Well… I'd say it's too soon to tell, but from first impressions… I'd say he's more on the shy type. Kinda like Frost, y'know?" Aqua replied.

"Well, Frost didn't have much trouble opening up to him, did she?"

Aqua rolled her eyes. "Please, she'd go after any man as long as she knew she could."

"You sure you're not describing yourself, hon?"

Aqua just shook her head and kept walking.

"I think you're just a little bit jealous that she's getting more attention than you~"

"I'm not jealous at all. If she wants to tour some random Eevee all over the village, that's fiiiine by me." Aqua sounded a little bit bitter. Diana frowned at this.

"Hon, you can't just be so standoffish to people. If you really want attention then you have to be nice. Acting like you are now isn't going to help anyone."

"Ugh… whatever."

"Besides, you're the girl I can rely on in this group. Someone who I know won't be whisked away by a man."

"Yeah, you got that right. I'm not letting some man get in the way of our friendship. Frost can do whatever she wants." Aqua humphed as she closed her eyes and lifted her tail.

Diana just giggled. "Never change, Aqua."

* * *

Volt opened the door. "Here we are! Welcome to my house!"

Pyro looked around. It seemed like a normal enough house. Food storage, some… _cough_ "beds" and some tables. Pyro definitely couldn't complain. It was this or…

Well this or going back to the sea.

"Hm… Seems nice." Pyro said.

"I know, right? It's a pretty cool place to hangout, not gonna lie." Volt made himself comfortable in one of the beds and sighed. "Aaaah man, home sweet home!"

Pyro just lifted an eyebrow, but quickly went back to ignoring him. "Don't we have like an… Evolution Ceremony or something?"

Volt quickly opened his eyes. "Shoot, I forgot about that!" He quickly ran off to go and straighten up as Pyro sighed. _He's definitely a quirky one, I'll give him that much._

* * *

Pyro and Volt started walking to the stage. Pyro had an extra red bandana on that Volt gave him. It looked pretty cool, and it fit perfectly on his neck. No complaints here.

"So, dude, are you excited for this? We're finally gonna evolve! Can't wait to get my electric powers!"

Pyro just silently nodded. He'd never really tested his abilities as an Eevee, but he assumed they'd be the same as a Flareon. Only much stronger. And hotter. Much… Much hotter.

The two approached the stage and got in line behind the other Eevees.

"Oh good, you didn't make Pyro late. I'm surprised, Volt." Diana joked.

"You can shut your mouth, Diana. I'll have you know I did a great job making sure that Pyro felt right at home, right Pyro?"

Pyro quickly nodded. "Y-Yeah…"

The girls giggled and Pyro couldn't help but look away and blush. This was already looking to be a really awkward experience…

"Attention everyone!" The Eevees turned to the stage, noticing an Loudred standing on it. "Today is a great day for all of us… The day that we evolve the Eevees we had taken care of for so long! Today… is the Evolution Ceremony!"

The crowd cheered as Loudred finished his speech. "Now then, may I call the Eevees to the stage and stand in front of your respective stone?"

All the Eevees walked onto the stage, and there were hushed up whispers in the crowd. _Wait a minute, an 8th Eevee? I thought there were only 7! Could this be the prophecy batch?_

Pyro nervously stepped in front of his stone. He looked over at the other Eevees. Normally they couldn't evolve without happiness or level up, but apparently this village special stones that ignored that.

Wish us humans had that. It'd make our lives so much easier.

"Now then, Eevees, touch the stones!"

The Eevees touched the stones at the same time, and they all glowed with the energy of evolution. However, something was different. The energy rose into the air and combined, forming into a sphere of sorts. When all the Eevees were done evolving, the sphere took its hardened shape, with a dark green tinge.

Everyone looked in shock at the orb. All the Eevees surrounded it.

"Wow… What a pretty orb…" Diana stated.

"Wait a minute… I think I've seen this orb before…" Dawn said.

Pyro stared into the orb. He didn't know why, but… He felt like… He needed… To touch it…

As soon as he touched it, the orb violently shook and flew into the air, glowing and bursting into 7 different pieces and scattering in multiple different directions. Everyone merely looked in shock at what happened. Even Loudred himself was at a loss for words.

All they knew was this. The prophecy was now completed. And that could only mean one thing.

Bad things were about to come their way.

 **End of Chapter 2**

 **Alright! That was a fun little chapter. Took me a little while longer than I'd hoped, but hopefully it was worth it. Either way, this is Duffle signing out. Deuces!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello all you beautiful people! Duffle here with another new chapter of Tales of an Eevee Pack! Since the last chapter was uploaded so late yesterday, I'm gonna make it up to you fans of this story by uploading this one first and then doing Tournament of Power later.**

 **Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy the new chapter!**

Chapter 3: A Tale of Eevees and Wonders!

Despite what happened merely a week ago, Flareon really didn't have much trouble fitting in. I say Flareon because… That's what they agreed to call each other.

Either way, Flareon was actually starting to really like the village. He'd joined the Explorer Guild and was already doing pretty well. He'd go with various people in the little Eevee group, usually just to fetch an item for someone or to go find someone who was lost. He's always taking these small jobs, and the villagers loved him for that.

As he was approaching the Explorers' Guild, some Rattatas came up to him. "Hey Flareon ,can you give us another fighting lesson?"

Flareon chuckled. "Not today, I've got some important work I need to do. But I'll give you guys a super special lesson as soon as possible, okay?"

The Rattatas all nodded and ran off. Flareon then shook his head and went back to the Explorers' Guild.

He didn't know why, but ever since he evolved, he felt… cocky. Arrogant. He felt confident in his abilities and he wanted to show them off. Of course, he was still adapting, but… He couldn't help but feel this way. People always told him that Pokemon sometimes change when they evolve… Could this be what he was feeling?

* * *

It was an interesting feeling, that was for sure, but he never really paid much mind to it. There were more important matters at hand, like what the leader of the guild called him in for. He sat down in front of the desk.

"You requested me, sir?"

A Chatot turned around and flew towards Flareon. "Yes, I do, and I think you know why. If I remember correctly, during the Eeveelution Ceremony, a green orb appeared and split into 7 different pieces."

Flareon nodded. "Yeah, I remember that."

Chatot started pacing. "Multiple reports have come up recently about strange activity in the areas where we think they landed. Crazy weather, noxious gas, you name it. It's become a serious problem."

"Yeah, apparently it's been causing some major problems. But what do you want me to do about it?"

"We've already sent a force of our strongest fighters to go and scout out the pieces. What I want you to do is go help the villagers with any problems they might be having with the extreme conditions."

Flareon couldn't help but feel disappointed by this. I mean, this was his destiny… Right? To be honest he still didn't know, but he wanted to do something better than other people's' dirty work. "Yes… I understand, sir."

Chatot shook his head and sighed. "Flareon, you are a good recruit, and one that is very willing to help us, but you and the other Eevees have only been here for a week. Despite what you've done for the villagers, I still do not trust you enough with this kind of job, especially since you were once a human. Do you understand where I'm coming from?"

Flareon bit his lip. "I do, sir."

Chatot put a wing on his shoulder. "Just do this for me and I might raise you up in the rankings. I will admit I do appreciate everything you're doing for us, but not yet."

"It's fine sir, really. This is just a reason for me to work harder." He didn't believe that. He told himself that, but he wanted more. He _needed_ more. And he was going to prove that he _deserved_ more than this.

"If you'll excuse me…" Flareon bowed and exited the room.

"Wait, Flareon." Flareon looked back. "Alakazam came by earlier. He told me to relay this message to you."

Flareon turned back to Chatot. "I'm listening."

Chatot coughed, and in Alakazam's voice, he said. "As the Eevees all come to fulfill their destinies, so too must Flareon make a choice. A choice that could save this world or have himself escape to another."

* * *

Flareon went back to his house and slumped in his bed, looking down. Jolteon was talking with Sylveon outside before they waved and Jolteon came back.

"Woo man! I dunno what's up with Diana, but ever since she became a Sylveon she's been awesome!" Jolteon started darting around the place. Yeah, Volt hadn't changed much since evolving. At least not personality wise. He was definitely much stronger. And much faster.

Joy.

Jolteon looked back and saw his best bud lookin down. "Hey Flare, you don't look too good buddy, what happened? Glaceon got you down in the dumps?"

Flareon looked up, annoyed. "For the last time, we're not dating." Jolteon had made a habit of teasing Flareon about Glaceon since they'd been spending a lot of time together. It really got under his skin, especially since whenever Flareon tried to do it back to him with Sylveon, he just laughed it off.

"Suuuure you aren't." Jolteon got serious for a bit. "But seriously, why are you looking like someone died?"

Flareon sighed. "My exploring career may as well be dead. I'm being put on a serious mission, except I'm just doing clean-up duty for everyone else so _that's_ a lot of fun."

"Bro bro bro, you can't just look at this and say it's nothing. Even if you're not in the main squad, the fact that Old Chatter Box even trusted you with this in the first place should be something appreciated. After all, you just showed up to the village a week ago, claiming to be a human like a psycho!"

"...I _am_ a human…"

"But you know what? He looked past that cause he trusts you, just like everyone else in the village." Jolteon put a paw on his friend's shoulder. "Now you and I should get ready. We've got a long trip ahead of us."

"Yeah… Wait, we?"

Jolteon laughed. "Yeah, uh, he kinda asked the rest of our pack to help you out. Dunno why he didn't bring you, maybe he wanted a private conversation or whatever. Beats me."

 _That just makes what he said even more important than before…_ Flareon thought.

"Either way, that means we're all following you. Well… except for Vaporeon. She decided to stay back with Espeon and Umbreon. Don't know why." Jolteon shrugged.

Flareon nodded. "Well, I'm ready to go when you are."

"Buddy, I am always ready!"

Flareon sweat dropped. "Yeah, I know all too well…"

* * *

The two Eeveelutions walked over to the East side of town, where the rest of the pack was waiting.

"Well well, if it isn't my two _favorite_ people~" Sylveon said as the two amigos approached.

Yeah, that was the thing about Diana. She was a little bit teasing before, but after she evolved she became full on flirting, almost creepily so.

"Why thank you, _princess._ "

At least Jolteon seemed to enjoy it.

Flareon just rolled his eyes and walked up to Glaceon and Leafeon, letting the other two bicker away with each other.

"So, how've you two been doing?" Flareon asked.

Leafeon instantly perked up. "Oh I've been great! This evolution feels sooooo nice, I can't even believe it. I'm, like, always with nature now, and there's always a cool breeze!" Leafeon flipped the leaf on her head back. "But overall it's been pretty nice."

Flareon chuckled. Leafeon did have a tendency to go a bit overboard sometimes. He turned to Glaceon.

"And how about you? Has your evolution been treating you well?"

"U-uh… Yeah, I'd say it's… pretty nice. Kinda cold… b-but I guess I expected that." Glaceon stuttered out, giving a smile.

No, that wasn't a side effect of the cold evolution. Since recently, Glaceon's started stuttering around other guys. Flareon admitted to Jolteon that it was kinda cute, but it was weird considering how different it was before.

"That's good to hear." Flareon turned his attention to the road. "Either way, I suppose we should get walking."

Leafeon looked back. "Hey, what about those two?" Leafeon pointed to Jolteon and Sylveon, who were in each other's face bickering.

Flareon sighed. "They can catch up." Leafeon and Glaceon laughed a bit as they started walking.

 **End of Chapter 3**

 **Alright, I think that about covers everything I wanted to show in this chapter! The main plot's gonna start moving forward soon, so keep an eye out for that. Also, the next chapter for the Tournament of Power should be coming in about 2 hours at the latest, so check that out too if you have the time**

 **Either way, this is Duffle signing out. Deuces!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello once again all you lovely people! Duffle is back again with another chapter of Tales of an Eevee Pack. Nothing to report here, so let's hop right in, as I do not own Pokemon or any of its subseries.**

Chapter 4: The Stench of Failure

The Eevee Pack had been walking for the better part of an hour, through a thick forest. Flareon had started to notice that it was getting a bit harder to breathe. Maybe it was just the humidity of the forest, but it was still worrying nonetheless. He turned to Glaceon and Leafeon. They seemed to breathing a little bit heavier as well, so maybe it wasn't just him…

"Hey, Flareon." Flareon looked over at Leafeon. "Hasn't it been pretty quiet around here lately? Like we've barely run into any wild Pokemon after the first 30 minutes."

"Huh… Yeah, I suppose that is a little weird." Flareon started looking around some more. Now that she mentioned it, it seemed some of the plants were decaying as well the closer they got to the village.

"...I don't like this…" Glaceon said.

"I wouldn't worry about it. It's probably just a weird side effect of the orb landing around here. I'm sure everything's going to be fine as soon as we get there."

As the three leading Eevees stepped out of the forest and into the village, their jaws drop. What they saw was… horrifying.

"No… What happened here?" Flareon looked around. Destroyed houses, everything was deserted….

Glaceon started shivering. Leafeon took a step back. "F-Flareon, what do we do?"

"We have to go and find anyone still here. We've got a mission and we need to fulfill it." Flareon looked to other two. "Spread out and try to find anyone that might still be around."

Flareon ran off into the heart of the town. Jolteon and Sylveon came out of the woods, looking as shocked as the rest of them. "What the- What happened here?" Jolteon asked.

"We don't know, but we need to start looking for people. Hurry it up now." Leafeon said as she and Glaceon left to look for people.

Jolteon looked at Sylveon before running off to the left. Sylveon just sighed in worry and went to the right.

* * *

As Flareon approached what seemed to be the village square, he really saw the true damage. A broken fountain, torn down shops, broken debris all over the ground… This was a ghost town if he'd ever seen one.

But there was something unsettling about all of this. If the village was attacked and damaged this badly… Why were there no bodies? Surely someone should be left here… Right?

Flareon lifted a wooden board from one of the shops… No one. Not a single person.

Flareon shook his head and slammed a paw into the ground. "Dammit! What the hell happened here?"

Flareon then saw a little glow in the woods near the square and went over to investigate. When he pushed back a bush, he saw a green shard, sparking and glowing with energy. Could this have been one of the shards of the Green orb?

Flareon moved to pick it up, but received a shock when he touched it. "Ow!" he said, retreating his paw. Sighing, he just scooped it up with his bad and continued on his way.

* * *

Leafeon and Glaceon continued walking through the town, finding absolutely nothing. The two girls sighed and sat down after their failure.

"So, like, I know this isn't the best time, but what's going on with you and Flareon?" Leafeon asked.

Glaceon gave her a look. "Are you serious? This an awful time." She sighed. "Besides, there is nothing going on between us. I don't even like him and I don't he likes me. So get that idea out of your head and focus on the mission."

Leafeon rolled her eyes. "Sheesh. I'm just tryna lighten the mood. I've seen the way you stutter around him."

"I do that with every guy."

Leafeon smirked. "No you don't, especially not what you do with him."

Glaceon sighed. "Just shut up…"

Leafeon giggled. As they were walking, they heard a loud screech from the other side of the village.

"Oh no, that's Sylveon! Come on, Glaceon!" Glaceon nodded and ran after her.

* * *

Sylveon was in shock. Not because of slash marks on the walls, no. But because of what she saw underneath the walls. Badges. Ones that explorers wear.

Glaceon and Leafeon appeared at the scene and gasped when they saw the badges.

"No way…" Leafeon said. Jolteon zipped to the scene and Tch'd when he saw the badges.

"I did a full loop around the village, there's no sign of anyone other than us."

"This is awful… How could this have happened?" Glaceon asked.

"I think I know why." Flareon walked up to the group and opened his bag, showing the green orb shard. "This is probably the cause of what's been happening around here."

"I see… Well, we should probably take it back and have Alakazam work on it. Surely he can figure out something." Glaceon said.

"Ehehe… I don't think any of you are going anywhere…" Everyone turned to the direction of the voice, as two shadowy figures stepped out of the shadows, a Bisharp and a Weavile.

Flareon got into a fighting stance. "Who are you people?"

Weavile shook his head. "Now now, we're not here to fight you. All you have to do is give us the shard and we won't hurt anyone."

"Of course, if you refuse…" Bisharp lengthened the blades on his arms. "There's going to be some major consequences…."

"Pssh, like we're scared of you! There's 5 of us and only 2 of you!" Jolteon got into a fighting stance as well.

Weavile just snickered. "Your funeral." Weavile charged at the group with a metal claw, but Flareon quickly deflected it with iron tail, blasting him away with a powerful flamethrower.

"Jolteon, Glaceon, Sylveon! Take care of the Weavile. Leafeon and I will take on the Bisharp. Go!"

Flareon charged up a Flare Blitz and charged at Bisharp, who blocked it with an X formation. Flareon bounced back and shot a Fire Blast straight at Bisharp, burning him. Bisharp got up and launched a sonic boom, directly hitting Flareon into a building. Leafeon managed to get a Double Kick on Bisharp before they reset to a neutral position.

Meanwhile, Jolteon and Weavile were darting around, matching each other's speed. They never stayed in the same place for more than moments at a time, making it hard for Sylveon and Glaceon to keep up.

"Drat, I can't see them! Oh I sure do hope Jolteon doesn't do something stupid again…" Sylveon said.

"Sylveon, don't look at where they are, look at where they're going to be. It'll make it easier to keep up with their speed." Glaceon said, starting to keep track of their movements.

Sylveon tried to concentrate a bit more, beginning to have the outlines take more physical form. Eventually, she could see the entire fight happening in front of her, and as soon as she could, she blasted a Moonblast that hit Weavile, sending him into a tree. Jolteon stopped for a second smirked. "Well there you go, girl!"

Leafeon's Leaf Storm sent Bisharp straight into Weavile, heavily injuring both of them the Eevee pack stood in front of them.

"So, ready to give up?" Flareon said, cockily.

Both of the fighters got up. "Dammit… You may have won this round, but we'll be back for that shard. And once we get it, you're gonna feel sorry for doing this to us."

As Weavile finished his sentence, he and Bisharp vanished.

"They disappeared…" Glaceon said.

Jolteon looked at the rest of the pack. "Guys, this is big news. The village is destroyed, our top explorers are either dead or missing, and there's apparently a group looking for the Green Orb shards. We need to report back to HQ immediately.

Everyone nodded and began heading back home.

 **End of Chapter 4**

 **Alright, that was a fun chapter to write! I hope you all enjoyed and please feel free to write a review as I will always appreciate feedback. Anyways, this is Duffle signing out. Deuces!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys, Duffle here once again! You might be wondering why I'm making another chapter for Eevee Pack today, and to answer that question it's because not only do I need to make up for the double upload of Tournament of Power, but since the Weekend is only single uploads, I'm going to do ToP on Friday, Eevee on Saturday, and ToP again on Sunday. Anyways, with that out of the way, let's hop right into the chapter!**

Chapter 5: The Flames of Bravery Burn Blue

As the Eevees come back to the village, they barely talked. There was too much hanging over their heads, and quite a few of them were scared. The walk home seemed to be much longer this time, and it made Flareon think.

 _I don't get it… Why would they want the Green Orb shards? Maybe these things really are important… I mean, when an ancient prophecy fulfills its creation, I'm sure it must be important. I just don't know…_

The Eevee Pack finally came out of the woods and walked up to a special building.

"This is where Alakazam should be." Glaceon looked at Flareon. "Flareon, you give the Green Orb Shard to Alakazam. We'll go get Chatot."

Flareon nodded as everyone left to go get Chatot. Flareon sighed and walked into the room.

* * *

As Flareon entered, he was immediately met with lines upon lines of books. There were all kinds of them, ranging from fiction to non-fiction, all the way through the house. Many people had come to study about various things, but that's not what Flareon was here for, obviously. He walked to the back of the room, seeing Alakazam working with Espeon and Umbreon.

"Ah, Flareon. It's good to see you my friend. Come, sit down." Alakazam used his powers to have a chair levitate to the table, as Flareon sat down.

Espeon was the first to ask him. "So Flareon, how was the trip?"

"It was… eventful." Flareon took out the green orb shard, hissing in pain as he did so and put it on the table. "We found the shard in the location we went to, but don't touch it."

Alakazam used his psychic powers to lift it up and look at it.

"Hm… I don't believe I've ever seen anything like this. I'll have to do some research on this. In the meantime, you need to report back to Chatot."

The door opened up and the 4 of them looked back. "Actually, we brought Chatot here."

* * *

"I can't believe this. Those were some of our best explorers, and now they are either missing or dead…" Chatot shook his head. "There is something horribly wrong about this. You are all positive there wasn't a single body?"

Flareon shook his head. "No one but us and the attackers, sir. We would've questioned them, but they teleported away before we go the chance."

"I see…" Chatot looked back at the Green Orb Shard. "Well then, I suppose I don't have any other choice." Chatot turned to the Eevees. "I need you all to collect the Green Orb Shards. Obviously this evil team wants to get their hands on these, and we can't let them do so."

Flareon nodded. Suddenly, a loud crash was heard outside. "What was that?"

People inside the library were rushing out to see the commotion, and the back group followed suit.

* * *

"Oh yeah, burn em down, Arcanine!" Weavile yelled, cackling as Arcanine blasted Flamethrowers all over the town. The Eevees, followed by Alakazam and Chatot faced them.

"You guys again!" Leafeon screamed.

"Well well, if it isn't my _favorite_ little pack! I hope you all don't mind if we burn a couple of houses down, I enjoy myself quite so when doing it." Weavile said.

Vaporeon ran up to the group. "Guys! You need to take care of those guys, I'll worry about the fires!" Vaporeon began unleashing water guns all over the burning houses.

As Flareon got into a fighting stance, he couldn't help but feel something… familiar about that Arcanine. All except for those eyes… They didn't have pupils. It was unsettling.

Weavile jumped off and got into a fighting pose next to Bisharp. "Time for Round 2!"

Alakazam closed his eyes and opened them widely. "It seems there are also attackers on the other side of town. Chatot and I will go take care of them. I trust you are all able to take these guys out?"

Jolteon nodded. "Piece of cake!"

Chatot smiled and nodded. "Good luck." He flew off with Alakazam floating not far behind.

The Arcanine roared and blasted a flamethrower at the group. Espeon set up a Light Screen and deflected most of it, whilst Flareon went after Weavile. Weavile started slashing at Flareon, who started dancing around his claws before hitting him with a Fire Fang. Weavile winced in pain before swiping Flareon off of him. Glaceon jumped to other side of Weavile and prepared to 2v1 him with Flareon.

Meanwhile, Bisharp was having a hard time hitting Jolteon as he was running circles around him. He kept swiping with his arm blades until he accidentally got them stuck in the ground, in which Jolteon took the opportunity to slam him with Double Kick. The 4x effective move sent him flying. He got up and the two stared each other down once more, ready to square up.

Arcanine was blasting Flamethrower all over the place, with Sylveon and Leafeon barely being able to dodge.

"Leafeon, darling, do you happen to have any moves that can do some damage to this thing?"

Leafeon shook her head. "Sorry, I've got none."

Sylveon just tch'd as Arcanine approached them. Suddenly, a blast of water hit him on the side and he collapsed. Vaporeon joined the other Eeveelutions in battle.

"Mm, did you miss me?" Vaporeon said sarcastically.

"Always good to see you again, hun~" Sylveon replied.

Arcanine started to get up and the girls got into an attack stance.

Meanwhile, Flareon and Weavile were dancing around each other, but Weavile didn't except Glaceon to come from behind and tackle him. When she did, Flareon gave her a hi-five.

Jolteon Thunder Wave'd Bisharp and kicked him away, proud of himself.

The girls were still dancing around Arcanine.

"This thing is way too strong!" Vaporeon yelled. Flareon, Glaceon, and Jolteon all came to their side while Espeon and Umbreon came back.

Espeon and Umbreon turned to the group. "We will distract the other two while you take on Arcanine. Good luck!" The two ran off as Arcanine howled and fired another Flamethrower.

This time, however, Flareon didn't dodge, and just let the fire hit him. His Flash Fire ability activated and his whole body was set aflame with power. He charged up a powerful fire blast, but then weird, green electricity shot out of the library and surrounded Flareon, powering up his blast and having its color change to blue. The fire consumed Arcanine and it collapsed, completely defeated.

Weavile got up and looked in fear. "No way… Was that Sacred Fire?" He looked at Bisharp. "Dude, we gotta split! This is big news!" Two pokemon then disappeared.

Flareon was panting heavily after that last attack. "How… Did I…."

Jolteon gave Flareon a slap on the back. "Good job, buddy! I knew you had it in ya."

Flareon just chuckled as he looked in the direction of the library.

* * *

"Thankfully our injuries were minor and construction can be finished relatively quickly, but it's still worrying. How come these people attacked us? It must be because of the Green Orb." Chatot surmised.

They all looked at the Green Orb, which no longer had the electricity or the power surrounding it, and was safe to touch.

"Even still, what you all explained to me was peculiar. You said that green energy came out of this building and powered up Flareon? And that's how he was able to use Sacred Fire?" Alakazam asked.

Glaceon nodded. "Yes sir, I saw it with my own eyes."

"I see…" Alakazam rubbed his chin. "Then if my hypothesis is correct, then it seems these shards are more linked to all of you than we thought. If this shard powered up Flareon, there's no telling what it might do for the rest of you."

Chatot looked at them. "I want you all to leave immediately. This is a mission of the utmost importance, and we need to see this through as soon as possible." He looked at Espeon and Umbreon. "That goes for you two as well." They both nodded.

"Of course, sir." Flareon bowed.

"I wish you all the best of luck. And here-" Chatot gave Flareon the shard. "We'll be safer here if you hang on to this."

"Thank you sir." The Eevees left the library.

"Well then, looks like you did all that worrying for nothing, eh?" Jolteon gave him a tap on the arm.

"This is really exciting! A trip around the continent with my best friends? Oh boy!" Leafeon squealed. Everyone else just laughed at her excitement.

Flareon looked forward at the road ahead. "Well then, it's time to get started!"

Everyone nodded and followed Flareon.

 **End of Chapter 5**

 **Alright, and that's that! I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and if you didn't leave and review and all that jazz. Tomorrow is the start of the weekend, and since I wanna watch Melee at Evo, I'm gonna be doing single uploads throughout the entire weekend as I said above. I hope you all understand and have a great day. Deuces!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello everybody! Duffle back once more to give you another chapter of Tales of an Eevee Pack! Like yesterday, I'm only gonna upload this chapter today so that I can relax and watch some Evo, but since this is my more popular story I thought I'd go ahead and give it the Saturday slot. Anyways, that's all I wanted to say, so let's hop right in!**

Chapter 6: Teenage Mutant Ninja Squirtles?

As the Eevee Squad started walking out of town, they noticed immediately that the further and further they went, the hotter it became. And not just little increments, it became _really_ hot. Of course, Flareon wasn't really bothered by it. In fact he really liked it. Everyone else… Not so much.

Glaceon herself looked like she was having a stroke. _Of course,_ Flareon thought, _she's an ice type. It makes sense that she'd be struggling._

Flareon walked up next to Glaceon, providing a little bit of shade for her. She smiled. "Thanks, Flareon, I needed that."

"Hey, don't mention it. I'll make sure we get a parasol or something to give you more once we get to the next town."

Sylveon started panting a little heavily and walked towards Jolteon. "Jolteon, I'm so _hot_ ~"

Jolteon just looked at her funny. "And what d'you want me to do about it?"

"Well you could give me your water…"

Jolteon turned away. "Drink your own."

"I already drank mine up!"

Jolteon looked at her and smirked. "And whose fault is that?"

"Ooooh, you rude boy! That is no way to treat a lady!"

The two starting bickering loudly once again, and Espeon just sighed and turned to Umbreon.

"So Umbreon, are you feeling okay?"

 _Yes, I'll be fine. A little bit of heat isn't enough to bother me._

"Hm, I thought not, but it's always best to be prepared."

That was another thing Flareon thought peculiar about the Eevee pack. Of all of them, Umbreon was mute. Everyone was really hoping it'd change upon evolution, but to no avail.

However, one good thing that came out of it was that his perception was incredible. All of his fighting abilities were increased. Of course, he wasn't much of a fighter himself, but it was nice nonetheless.

The main selling point was that Umbreon and Espeon would have this conversations. Espeon would speak to him and then she'd read Umbreon's mind to know what he wanted to say. It was useful, but kinda weird at the same time.

"Hey hey, Vaporeon!" Leafeon walked up to Vaporeon. "What's crackin, girl?"

"Oh boy, Glaceon's little buddy. What do you want?"

"Look, I just wanna talk. Is that so wrong?"

Vaporeon looked ahead of her. "I just wanna keep walking. I'm hot, I'm tired, and I don't wanna deal with this."

"Yeesh, ok. Fine then." Leafeon stuck out her tongue and went over to Glaceon and Flareon.

* * *

The Eevees were getting kind of tired, but Umbreon's ear twitched and he turned to Espeon.

"Everyone, Umbreon has informed me that there's a village over this next hump. It'd be best if we get there quickly." Espeon said.

Flareon nodded. "Alright we'll do that."

As they were walking up the hump of sand, a flash flew through the air and smacked Flareon in the back of head, knocking him down and making him lose his bag, which another flash picked up.

As they slowed down, 4 squirtles appeared and gave a thumbs up. "Yeah, we got it!"

The lead Squirtle, with a red bandana on, rummaged through Flareon's bag and pulled out the Green orb shard. "Haha, we got it!"

The other Eevees supported Flareon back up.

"Ugh… What…" Flareon looked at the Squirtles. "Hey, give that back!"

"No can do, Fire Boy! The boss wants us to take these to him, and we'll be rewarded nicely if we do!" Red showed the Eevees the two shards, one of them sparking with Green electricity.

Jolteon started sparking. "Alright then, we'll just have to take them from you."

"Hah! You wish. Brothers, sound off! Red!" He gave a thumbs off.

"Blue!"

"Green!"

"Yellow!"

"Squirtles, move out!" The Squirtles tucked into their shell and charged at the Eevees…

Only to get shocked my Jolteon, knocking them all out. "Yeah, we'll be on our way."

As Flareon grabbed his bag from them and started walking by, he smacked the leader in the head with his bag.

"Oh noooo bros….."

* * *

After that little diversion, the Eevees appeared in what seemed to be a little desert oasis. Leafeon saw what looked like a market and pulled Glaceon over there quickly. Vaporeon rolled her eyes and decided to join them, alongside Sylveon.

Espeon turned to Jolteon and Flareon. "If you don't mind, I'm going to visit the village elder. Alakazam informed me that a Slowking here could help us, and since we've already gotten the shard from this area, I think we can afford to get prepared for the rest of the journey."

Flareon nodded. "Alright, I'll take Jolteon and go talk to the Mayor."

The two remaining groups separated and went to go do their jobs. At the Mayor's Office, Flareon and Eevee stepped inside. "Mr Mayor?"

The mayor looked back, revealing himself to be a Krookodile. "Ah, you must be the Eevees that Alakazam and Chatot informed us about! Good to see you, good to see you!" Krookodile gave them pretty hard pats on the back.

"So, what brings you all to our town?"

"Well, we're searching for the Green Orb shards, and we were wondering if you could point us in the right direction."

"Of course, of course! I'd love to help…" He rubbed his hands. "Unfortunately, some bandits took the shard in our area, so there's not much I can do to help you."

Flareon shook his head. "That's fine. We actually have that shard."

Krookodile looked a little surprised before smiling again. "Oh… Well very good! I expect no less from you."

Flareon nodded. "If you'll excuse me, sir." Flareon and Jolteon left.

Krookodile's smile instantly disappeared and he pulled a Korkorok to him. "Apparently the Squirtle Bros weren't enough, so I need you and the others to hunt them down and GET THOSE SHARDS! You understand?"

The Krokorok nodded and left the room as Krookodile looked worried. "That's bothersome… I hope they don't get too far away. Those shards are gonna be mine, I swear…"

* * *

Espeon and Umbreon walked into the hut as they saw a Slowking. He opened his eyes and did his best at a smile, which his species notably... struggles with.

"Ah, hello there, young warriors. I've been expecting you."

Espeon walked up to him. "Sir Slowking, Alakazam has told us that you might be able to help us on our quest concerning the Green Orb shards."

Slowking closed his eyes. "Yes. I'm sure you know that the shards all reside in villages across the continent..."

"Yes. But what I wish to know is why the shard we got powered up Flareon as it did."

Slowking paced away. "When you all evolved, the ancient prophecy was fulfilled, and the Green Orb was created. The Green Orb is linked to your power, and each shard holds an inkling of power that you all have yet to harness. Your potential, if you will. When Flareon was put in a situation of extreme danger, his potential was unlocked and the Green Orb powered him."

"I see..." Espeon looked at Slowking. "But if the shards are linked to us, why would other people want to take them for themselves."

Slowking flinched. "I'm afraid I cannot say, but I can say that sometimes things may have a bigger purpose than you originally believed."

Everyone was silent. a heavy atmosphere was held over their heads, until Slowking broke the silence once more. "Your friends, Flareon and Jolteon. They are in trouble."

"What? But they're just going to the Mayor and are gonna meet up with us."

"That is why they are in trouble. The mayor isn't going to let them join back with you."

* * *

Flareon and Jolteon were walking back outside of the office, but two Golems cut off the entrance.

"Uh, scuse me, but we're trying to go back to the shops." Jolteon said.

"You're not going anywhere." The Eeveelutions looked back and saw Krookodile with some guards. "Thought you could get away with stealing our city's treasures, eh?"

Flareon looked confused. "Wha? What're you-"

"Silence! I don't wish to hear the words of a heathen. Guards, throw them in prison."

Jolteon prepared to fight but Flareon put a hand on his shoulder. "Jolteon, don't. We have a serious type disadvantage here. We don't stand a chance."

Jolteon tch'd and sat there. "I hate that you're right, Flareon."

"Yeah... I do too."

Krookodile just laughed. "So, it seems you have some brains after all. Well, it doesn't matter. Guards, take them to the prison. But give me the Flareon's bag."

Flareon gave up his bag as he and Jolteon were tied up.

Krookodile waved. "Bye bye... Hahahaha!"

 **End of Chapter 6**

 **Alright, sorry for uploading this for so late, but I finally got this out! I hope you guys enjoy and please make sure to leave a review to let me know what you think. Deuces!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! Duffle back with another chapter of Tales of an Eevee Pack. Before we get started, I'd like to make a little announcement. Due to some irl stuff, I'm probably gonna slow down my upload schedule a little bit. Apologies to those who like Tournament of Power, I promise I'll upload a chapter of it tomorrow. But for now, my new schedule is going to be Eevee on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday while Tournament of Power is on Tuesday and Thursday. I'm just starting to have less and less time to do this kind of thing and I want to get into a schedule in which I can keep up throughout the summer and school. Anyways, enough of that, I hope you all enjoy and let's get right into the chapter!**

Chapter 7: Prison Break Out

 **Jolteon POV**

As Flareon and Jolteon were walked towards the city jail, Jolteon couldn't help but sneer. Of course, those who have evil motives would do a cowardly tactic like this. They were looking for help, but instead they were met with jail. Fantastic.

And the worst part of all of this was that Flareon was being a total jerk. Jolteon was ready to fight but noooo. Like I get they were disadvantaged, but they could've at least tried.

"Thanks, Flareon. Now we're gonna be in jail and we didn't even put up a fight."

"Look, I don't know what universe you live in, but unless Electric and Fire and super effective against Ground there you need to start actually thinking."

"We could've done literally anything else! But instead you gave up. Sometimes you need to step up and be the leader we all trust you to be."

"Shut up, Jolteon. What do _you_ know about leadership?"

That ended the conversation.

 **Normal POV**

The two Eevees had descended the stairs and were put behind their bars, left with two Krokoroks left to guard them. They used Stealth Rocks and scattered them around the jail, to make sure that they would really never get out. Flareon lay down on his back.

"Joy, stealth rocks."

Jolteon just went over to one of the beds and laid down.

"So what's the plan, oh Great Leader? We gonna wait here and do nothing?"

"Basically, yeah."

Jolteon sat up. "You have got to be kidding. You're gonna rely on the slim chance that someone comes and saves us?"

Flareon looked at Jolteon. "Do you think the rest of the Eevees are gonna leave without us? Just have a little faith."

Jolteon was tapping his paw on the bed.

Flareon sighed. "Look, I get it. You don't like to wait. But sometimes you need to in order to get the best result. You can't outrun everything, sometimes you need to dial it back."

Jolteon started growling a little bit and Flareon shook his head, putting it back on the ground. _You guys better come quickly, I have a bad feeling about all of this…._

* * *

Espeon and Umbreon were running through multiple people, trying to get to the market.

"God, where are they? They couldn't have gone that far!" Espeon and Umbreon were having trouble running through the crowd.

After a little while, they stumbled upon a shop, with 3 Eeveelutions standing in front of it. Espeon smiled and ran up to them. "Everyone! Oh my goodness, I'm so glad to see all of you!" Espeon looked around. "Wait, where is Vaporeon?"

Glaceon rolled her eyes. "She just said she was sick of us or something and ran off on her own. I think she's over there." Glaceon pointed towards one of the stalls where Vaporeon was standing alone.

Espeon looked back at the group. "Well, that doesn't matter. We need to leave for the jail, now."

Sylveon looked confused. "What? Why would we ever do that?"

Espeon got annoyed. "Flareon and Jolteon are in trouble, and if we don't hurry they're gonna end up _dead_!"

Everyone went wide eyed after that. Glaceon's expression then darkened. "Let's go."

Espeon nodded. "Umbreon, lead the way. I shall go talk to Vaporeon." Umbreon nodded and ran off with the other 3 in tow as Espeon ran up to Vaporeon.

"Vaporeon, we require your assistance. Flareon and Jolteon are in trouble."

Vaporeon looked at Espeon and then looked back at the store. "Nah, I think I'm good."

Espeon looked shocked. "Are you serious? Those two are going to die!"

"And I'm going to correctly assume that that's not my problem. I never liked any of them."

Espeon looked disgusted. "Fine. Don't help us. Do your shopping or whatever, but when we save them without your help, we're not coming back for you."

Vaporeon didn't respond.

"Tch. You were always a lone wolf, Vaporeon, but I never doubted that you were a good person. You and Sylveon were so close, but it looks like we were wrong to assume that you wouldn't just leave us for dead when given the opportunity."

Vaporeon looked back. "Espeon, I-"

"I don't wanna hear it." Espeon ran towards the jailhouse.

Vaporeon dropped her head down.

"Y'know, she's right." Vaporeon looked up at the shop keeper, a small Roggenrola.

"What? Please, as if you know our situation." Vaporeon shook her head.

"I don't need to know your situation. I do know that those two need your help, no?"

Vaporeon didn't respond.

"It's not about dealing with those you don't like. It's about supporting your friends in their time of need. You might be content with your life currently, but if you're gonna continue to be rude because of that, you might be content with the life you have afterwards."

Vaporeon gritted her teeth and sighed. "You know what, you're right. I'm going back there."

"That's good to hear. But before you go, why don't you take one of these?" Roggenrola pointed at a Mystic Water with his foot.

"A Mystic Water?" Vaporeon slipped it on over her neck. "Thank you very much, uh…"

"Just call me Roggenrola. Though if you do wanna get formal, it's ma'am."

Vaporeon sweat dropped. "Thanks a lot, Roggenrola."

She nodded. "Anytime."

Vaporeon ran off after her friends.

* * *

Espeon caught back up with the rest of the group. "Well, it seems Vaporeon has decided not to help us."

Sylveon looked surprised. "But why would she ever do such a thing?"

"If I knew the answer I would say, but alas I do not." Espeon closed her eyes.

Glaceon got a little mad. _That jerk!_ She thought.

"Either way, we need to save the boys! Who knows how much time we have left?" Leafeon exclaimed.

Everyone nodded and rushed towards the jailhouse. The Krokoroks were still on guard, but Leafeon quickly took em out with Leaf Storm. Flareon and Jolteon's eyes quickly shot open as they saw their friends walk in through the door. Leafeon blew away the stealth rocks and started to unlock the cell door.

"Don't worry fellas, we're gonna get you out of here!" Leafeon said as the door opened up.

Flareon smiled. "Thanks a bunch, everyone! I appreciate the help."

Jolteon looked angry. "But that doesn't matter, that stupid Krookodile still has the Green Orb shards!"

"Why yes, I _do_ have the shards!" Everyone looked back to see Krookodile and three Golems walking down. He started… clapping.

"I must say, my plan has worked absolutely perfectly! Not only do I have the Green Orb shards, but I also have everyone who is going to be a threat! My client is going to be very happy with me." Krookodile gave an evil grin.

Everyone got into a fighting stance. Krookodile just smirked. "You're all such fools… Very well, let's see how you do against all of us! Guards, take em out, all of them! But please, do try and keep at least one of them alive."

The Golems all charged at the Eeveelutions as Flareon fired off a Flame Burst. It hit all of the Golems, but they just smirked as they were barely affected. However, Jolteon quickly ran up and Double Kicked the Right Golem into a wall, ready to fight.

Leafeon blasted the Left Golem with a Leaf Storm, sending him flying. It got up relatively slowly as Leafeon tackled it down again.

Espeon and Umbreon started taking care of the middle one, with Umbreon dodging and taking hits from Golem as Espeon blasted it with Psychic. Eventually, Espeon's Psychic threw it back near the other Golems, and Glaceon blasted them all with Blizzard, freezing them and KOing them.

"Tch." Krookodile said. "It seems that my underlings have failed me once again. If you want something done…"

Krookodile unleashes a powerful Dark Pulse that knocked all of the Eevees down.

Krookodile grinned. "You do it yourself."

"Hey, you!" Krookodile looked back and saw Vaporeon at the door.

"Oh, looks like I missed one. Well it doesn't matter, I'll just take you out quickly enough."

Vaporeon had a determined look on her face. Flareon struggled to get up, but as he did, he saw the inside of his bag, which Krookodile had, was starting to spark. It suddenly unleashed bright green lightning which surrounded Vaporeon, making her unleash a powerful water attack.

"Tidal Wave!" Vaporeon sent out a wave of water, which surrounded Krookodile and knocked him out. Vaporeon helped up the rest of the Eevees and she looked at Espeon.

"Espeon… I'm… sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't really mean it."

Espeon smiled. "It's quite okay, Vaporeon. I'm happy that you decided to stick with us."

Flareon picked up his bag again and saw that the shard was no longer sparking. "Well, I think we should get out of here before these guys get up, what do you say?"

Everyone nodded and quickly escaped the jailhouse, leaving the Desert Oasis behind.

 **End of Chapter 7**

 **Alright, that was a fun chapter to write! Hopefully the extra long chapter should make up for the lack of chaper yesterday. Either way, I hope you guys enjoyed and I will see you all again tomorrow. Deuces!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey hey hey! Duffle is back again with a new chapter of Tales of an Eevee Pack! It's been a long time coming, so I hope you all enjoy this chapter and of course, I don't own Pokemon.**

Chapter 8: Leave Desert Sands for Distant Lands

Krookodile struggled to get up. It had been half an hour after that Vaporeon came in and destroyed his plans. He rubbed his eyes and growled.

"Everything was going as planned… How did we fail?" Krookodile muttered.

"Maybe if you had prepared for this you would still have everything you were supposed to give me." Krookodile looked back and saw a figure in a hood floating in.

Krookodile growled. "Look, I'll just send some of my men to follow them, then we'll have the shards for you, alright?"

The figure lifted his arm and Krookodile floated up before being thrown into a wall painfully. Krookodile grunted in pain.

"You'd better. If you care about the fate of your town and the people in it, you better give me those shards and one of the Eevees. If one of their bodies isn't surrounded by multiple shards and at my feet within 2 weeks, I will level this entire city and cover it in the desert sands, do you hear me?!"

Krookodile just whimpered and nodded. The figure chuckled.

"Glad we've got that covered. Now get up. We've got some… _business_ to discuss."

* * *

The Eevees continued on their way to the next shard. Flareon and Jolteon had gotten over their recent altercation relatively quickly, now continuing to talk about the battles and what they're gonna do.

The biggest change was Vaporeon, who seemed like a completely different person at that point. She was now integrated in the main group, talking about basic stuff. Before she was distant and pushy, but now she was much more open.

"I gotta say, Vaporeon, you seem like a whole different girl!" Glaceon smiled as she said this.

Vaporeon giggled. "Well, that shopkeeper made me realize something. I can't just keep being rude to everyone my whole life. So I thought I should open up to you guys and have a little fun, I suppose."

Sylveon smiled. "Well, I'm glad to hear that, darling~ It's more fun to have everyone back together again."

Leafeon jumped up. "Yeah! Oh man, we're gonna have so much fun, you won't even believe it!" She started bouncing all over the place as Vaporeon nervously chuckled.

Flareon just turned to Jolteon. "So, anyways, what's your plan from here? I heard the next town is a swamp, so…"

"Pfft. Like a swamp is gonna ruin any of _my_ electric abilities. Trust me, I'll be fine." Jolteon had his signature cocky grin on.

That was the thing about Jolteon. Whenever he was doing something, he always had that grin on, as if he knew that he was going to succeed. It was inspiring, but also kind of… annoying? Flareon never really thought about it that way.

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Either way, I need to discuss the movement plan to everyone else." Flareon turned back and cleared his throat.

"Okay everyone, we're gonna be going through some swamps up here. Since our speed is going to be reduced, I want us all to be clustered together in order to cover each other. Espeon should be able to detect anyone incoming, but it's best if we all proceed carefully regardless."

Everyone nodded and looked up as they heard a voice.

"Hello, hello? Testing, 1… 2…. I swear to god if I hear Slowking's snoring again, I'm gonna-"

Espeon spoke up. "Yes, Alakazam, we can hear you perfectly."

"Ah, Espeon! Good to know this thing works. I presume you are all well?"

Flareon nodded. "Yes, sir! We just got the 2nd shard relatively easily."

Alakazam laughed. "I see… Well, I expect nothing less from you all. You're going to the swamp land next, no?"

"Yes, sir. It's the closest to our location." Espeon responded.

"If so, then I'm afraid you'll all have to be careful. There are a lot of bug types roaming around, and it seems that many of them have joined forces with the team working against you."

Espeon grimaced and shivered. "I… I'll b-be careful, s-sir…."

Alakazam's tone changed. "Flareon, I'm counting on you. Keep everyone safe."

Flareon gulped and nodded before Alakazam's voice disappeared. Espeon was still shivering, wide-eyed.

That was another thing. Espeon was scared of bugs. Like, deathly scared. She would start shivering like it was Christmas whenever she got near one. For someone so calm, she really did freak out around those things. It was charming, but also incredibly weird.

Umbreon began patting her back and having a little mind talk with her, trying to calm her down. Eventually, she did take a deep breath and continued walking.

" _It'll be fine, Espeon. We're a pack, it's not like one of those things will actually kill you, not when we're all together."_ Umbreon thought.

" _You don't know that. What if Flareon wants me to go alone? I'll be slaughtered!"_ Espeon responded.

" _You always lose reason when it comes to bugs. It's not like you hide your fear, Flareon knows these things. He wouldn't do that to you and if he did, none of us would let you go alone. Flareon doesn't control us, after all."_

Espeon smiled. " _Thanks, Umbreon. I appreciate that."_

* * *

After walking for a little while, the group found themselves at the edge of the rainforest. Flareon sat down and opened up his bag.

"Alright, this is probably a good place to stop for now, we've been travelling all day."

The Eevees all set up the camp and proceeded to do their thing. Jolteon tried to start a fire with his electricity but let Flareon light it after making a mess.

Sylveon offered to start managing Glaceon's fur while the other 3 girls started talking with each other.

This left Umbreon who was… sulking. He was just looking up at the night sky, sitting there. He got bored pretty quickly and decided to talk with the other guys.

"Whatever dude, just because you light a fire doesn't mean you're stronger than me. I could take you on any day!" Jolteon said.

Flareon just rolled his eyes, smiling. "Yeah, whatever you say, Jolteon." Flareon looked over and noticed Umbreon sitting near them. "Oh, hey Umbreon! I was waiting for you to join us."

Umbreon nodded and smiled. Jolteon looked at him and smirked. "Yeah, maybe now you'll spend some time with us instead of being attached to your girlfriend all the time."

Umbreon rapidly shook his head and Jolteon just laughed. "C'mon dude, it's so obvious. Like, you two spend everyday together. Literally every day."

Flareon just smiled at Umbreon's denials. It was pretty funny, he wasn't gonna lie. He'd never really gotten this kind of interaction with his human friends.

...Wait what?

Flareon was immediately snapped out of his thoughts when Jolteon said something along the lines of "...Flareon likes…."

"Sorry, I was thinking. What did you say?"

"I know who Flareon likes, don't I?" Jolteon said with a smirk.

"Pfft. That's impossible since I don't feel that way about anyone. Nice try, but you're gonna have to try harder than that to get under _my_ skin."

Jolteon rolled his eyes. "Such a killjoy."

"Well maybe if you told me I'd tell you."

Jolteon glared at him. "So you lied to me! Argh…" Jolteon looked away. "Fine then. You two wanna know?"

Flareon and Umbreon nodded.

"Alright, fine. Who do you guys think is the person I spend the most time with?"

Flareon and Umbreon looked at each other.

"Well, me. You and I literally live together."

Jolteon shook his head. "Nope. The person I spend the most time with is…"

He smirked. "Sylveon."

Umbreon and Flareon just blinked before Flareon started to snicker a little bit.

Jolteon gave him a look. "What's so funny?"

Flareon just bust out into laughter.

Jolteon gave him an annoyed look. "Yeah yeah, laugh it up! Whatever." Jolteon just walked away.

Flareon stopped laughing and looked at him. "Oh, he left. Ah well, he'll be back."

Umbreon nodded. He rested his chin on his paws and Flareon did the same.

"Umbreon, do you think we're gonna be able to do this?"

Umbreon closed his eyes and nodded. Flareon smiled at this. "That's good to hear."

* * *

Meanwhile, the girls were starting to have a talk of their own. Sylveon started it up as she usually did.

"So girls, it's starting to become that kind of season again~ Have any of you found that special guy who's gonna take care of you?"

Espeon just huffed. "Like I have time for that. There are more important things to worry about than men, especially considering the dire circumstances we have put ourselves into."

Sylveon frowned. "Now now, darling, just because you haven't found that person yet doesn't mean you never will! I have complete faith that someone of your stature would just be attracting mates~"

Espeon blushed. "No, that's not what I meant, I-I…"

Vaporeon smirked. "She's just trying to hide the fact that she and Umbreon already hooked up~"

There was a collective "Ooo" from all the girls as Espeon blushed even more.

"No, we haven't hooked up, and I'm not even interested in him."

Leafeon grinned. "Girl, you couldn't be a worse liar if you tried! You're around this guy 24/7, it's painfully obvious you two like each other."

"That's cause he's my assistant. It's for a job. Nothing else."

Glaceon rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you keep telling yourself that…"

Sylveon smiled. "Well, personally, I think your two look good together, darling~"

"Thanks, Sylveon." Espeon turned to her. "Since you were the one who started up this conversation, why don't you tell us who you have your eye on?"

Sylveon giggled. "I suppose that is only fair. Well, since you asked, there's a wonderful Electric type in our group that I've been keeping my eye on for a while~"

Everyone's jaw dropped as Vaporeon broke the silence. "Jolteon? You like _him_?!"

"Why yes, indeed! The dashing little hero himself."

"You'd think with all the bickering you two would be an old, married couple…" Glaceon replied.

"Girl, I'm not gonna lie, you can do so much better than him." Leafeon said.

Sylveon got legitimately angry. "How rude! We are both perfectly young and he's the perfect fit for me! He's super strong and helpful, and whenever we're out together he's always a nice guy."

Vaporeon just smirked. "Whatever you say, Sylveon."

Sylveon just glared at Vaporeon. "Well, since you're the master of love, why don't you tell us who you've got _your_ eye on, miss?"

Vaporeon smiled and stood up. "Well, if you _really_ want to know what I real man is like, why don't you just look in front of you?"

Vaporeon did a little pose. "Handsome, strong, caring, and the one leading us all to victory right now!"

Glaceon's heart dropped when she heard that last bit. _Flareon…._

Sylveon just giggled. "Of course, of course. I will admit I did keep my eye on him for a while. Not a bad choice at all."

Vaporeon just giggled. "You know I'm right~" Vaporeon sat back down and smiled. "In fact, I'm probably gonna go make my move once me get to the next town."

Glaceon flinched and her heart sunk even lower. She stood up, a little wobbly.

"Hey, sorry guys, I'd love to stay but I'm not feeling so great, I'm gonna go and take a little break."

"That's fine, take as much time as you need, we'll still be here." Sylveon said.

Glaceon nodded and ran off. Leafeon had a worried look as she decided to go after her.

* * *

Glaceon sat at a little hill and looked out on the horizon, a sad and worried look on her face.

 _I can't believe this… Vaporeon has her eye on Flareon? How long has this been a thing? Why is this a thing? I just don't understand…_

Glaceon looked down but perked back up when she heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, Glaceon… You doing alright out here?"

Glaceon looked back and sighed. "Oh… Hi Leafeon." She turned back around. Noticing something was definitely wrong, Leafeon sat next to her.

"Look, I know something's up with you. You'd never just bolt out of a room unless something was bothering you."

"I… Leafeon, I think I messed up. I took too long."

"Messed up? Took too long? What're you on about?"

Glaceon looked to Leafeon. "Vaporeon's gonna make her move and I'll just be left lost and forgotten, just like I always am…" Tears started to form in Glaceon's eyes.

Leafeon suddenly understood. "You like him, don't you? You like Flareon."

Glaceon whimpered and nodded.

"Awe, come here, girl." Leafeon took Glaceon into a hug. "It's not too late. I have a feeling that Flareon doesn't even care about her. What you need to do is start making your move."

Glaceon left the hug and looked at her friend. "B-But…"

"No buts. You're gonna go out there and get that guy to love you, alright? Vaporeon's got _nothing_ on you, nothing!"

Glaceon couldn't help but giggle. "Thanks, Leafeon. But I'm gonna need your help to do it."

Leafeon smirked. "Of course, just leave it to me. He's gonna notice you more than ever."

The two gave each other a hi-five and wandered back to camp.

 **End of Chapter 8**

 **Alright, finally done with that! Sorry for the lack of uploads, I'm really sorry and I'm gonna try and fix that going forward. Anyways, if you liked this chapter, make sure to follow it so you're notified when it's updated and make sure to leave a review to tell me how you felt. Either way, this Duffle signing out. Deuces!**


	9. Chapter 9

_**It was late at night. DuffleGamer had just finished his training session for Dragonball Z Budokai and Smash Brothers Melee and decided to wind down by talking with his friends on Discord. When he opened it up on his phone, he noticed a little DM from one of his friends. It read:**_

" **Hey, sorry to bother you, but when's the next Eevee Chapter coming out?"**

 _ **Duffle sat there paralyzed for a second before running off to his computer.**_

 **So yeah, if that little intro wasn't obvious, I kind of… Forgot about this story. And really haven't written anything in awhile. Maybe I was subconsciously putting it off, who knows. Either way, I'm back with another chapter for you all, and hopefully it's gonna be a good one!**

Chapter 9: We Told Them Not to Bug Us

It was midday when the group continued to walk through the swampy area. Espeon, as per usual when it comes to these things, was shaking like a crazy person. Everytime she even heard a small splash she would jump and hide behind Umbreon. To say the least, things were not favorable towards her.

In fact, it got annoying to Flareon that not only was she not fighting, but she was also keeping Umbreon weighed down during them. This made it a lot harder for everyone else, and he knew he wasn't the only one getting annoyed by this. Umbreon kept sending nervous glances towards Flareon, and Flareon just gunned him down with his stare. He was _not_ happy.

Needless to say, everyone was gonna be happy to get out of this swamp. If they ever did…

 _Espeon, do you think it would be possible if you could hold onto me a little less?_ Umbreon thought.

 _B-But Umbreon, I-I…_

 _No, don't give me that. I am positive that you are stronger than I am, and yet you still insist on bringing me down with your clinging. Just let go and you'll realize that you can deal with it._

Espeon let go, both a little shocked and upset at what just happened as Umbreon separated himself from Espeon. Glaceon watched from a distance and couldn't help but frown. She didn't know what they were saying, but she could definitely tell from their expressions. She sighed and looked at Flareon.

 _Those two were inseparable before, what happened? Are all relationships that flimsy? I just don't know at this point…_

Glaceon decided to just continue walking by herself through the swampy waters, head down and deep in thought.

Meanwhile, however, Vaporeon thought this would be the perfect opportunity to talk to Jolteon about his love life. Y'know, get some quips in and all that. She mosied on over to the area next to Jolteon and smirked.

"Sooooo, Jolteon, how's it going?" Vaporeon asked.

"Not in the mood."

Vaporeon huffed. "How rude! I just wanted to strike a conversation, that's all!"

"Save it for when I care. Or for when we're out of this swamp. Though those will probably be at the same time."

Vaporeon scoffed and turned her nose away from him, walking by herself. Leafeon and Sylveon were watching this all unfold and were very worried.

"Sylveon, next time we have a break, I think you need to talk to everyone." Leafeon said.

"I agree. The lack of friendship and compassion going on right now is simply dreary. It's as if my powers are getting weaker by the second. Oooh I just can't bear to see love within our ranks shattered…"

"It's not just the love that I'm worried about, girlfriend. If we go into battle like this, people are just gonna run off on their own, without working together. We already had to worry about Flareon and Jolteon doing that, but now everyone's incredibly annoyed at each other! And quite frankly, they have no reason to. They haven't gotten nearly as many bug bites as I have!" Leafeon raised her arm to show many red bumps all over it.

"Mm, I agree with you, sis. We need to get this group back into one big, loving family again~"

Suddenly, a Caterpie jumped out of the water. Espeon gave a shriek, but it wasn't long until Flareon blasted it and it fell into the swampy waters, fainted. Flareon just kept on walking while everyone stared in shock.

Leafeon gulped. "If he's gonna be our leader, I feel like we might be in a little bit of trouble…"

* * *

It was getting closer to evening and the entire party was getting worn down.

"Ugh, Flareon, are we getting any clooooser?" Vaporeon asked.

"Yes, we are, so shut up and keep walking." Flareon huffed.

Right after he said that, a Goliosopod burst out from the shade and smacked Flareon in the head with a First Impression attack, knocking him out cold. The entire party jumped and tried to prepare for battle, but multiple string shots burst out and wrapped them up, immobilizing them. Espeon and Umbreon were the only ones able to move, but Espeon was clinging on to Umbreon as if her life depended on it.

Jolteon started to struggle. "Ugh, string shot! Get me out of this thing!"

The bug Pokemon started to walk towards Espeon and Umbreon. Umbreon tried to move to attack them, but Espeon's grip was too tight.

"Espeon… Let… Me… Go…" But it was too late. The Goliosopod smacked Umbreon in the head and knocked him out. The last thing Espeon remembered was the Pokemon laughing before knocking her out, too.

* * *

Espeon started to open her eyes, but immediately she was confused. _Wait a second, why is everything upside down?_ As it turned out, all of the Eevees were caught in a cocoon and were hanging upside down, seemingly no way to shake free. Espeon struggled for a little bit before sighing and staying still.

"Great work, Espeon. Now we're all trapped." Jolteon said.

"Look this isn't _my_ fault, they ambushed us!" Espeon retorted.

"Well maybe you should've used those psychic powers to foresee the attack!"

"That's not how it works you imbecile!"

The two eeveelutions glared at each other, sparks forming between their eyes as Sylveon intervened.

"Alright you two, that's quite enough! I won't have members of my family squabbling at each other like little children!"

The two looked away and huffed.

"That's better. Now then, we should try and find a way out of here. Any suggestions?"

The Eevee Pack thought for a little bit before Glaceon spoke up. "Ooh, I have an idea! Flareon can burn his way through these webs!"

"Sweetie, I appreciate the thought, but..." Sylveon motioned to a spot of ground, where there laid an unconscious Flareon.

"Oh no!" Glaceon gasped. This was not good...

"Hey wait, there are still some flames!" Vaporeon said, and she was right. Flareon's breathing did create some small flames.

"How're we gonna get him to burn the webs? He's still, y'know, unconscious." Leafeon said.

Espeon gulped and used her psychic, levitating Flareon's body up towards Glaceon's and having him breathe on the webs. The fire started to catch on as the flames trickled down the webs, burning them and disappearing. Glaceon quickly jumped out of her pod to avoid getting burned.

"Geez, that's a lot of heat..."

Espeon dropped Flareon and he landed on the ground with a thud. Glaceon looked at Espeon angrily. "Hey, don't do that to him, he's already injured!"

"Oh come on, he should be fine."

Glaceon growled before starting to help everyone else get out of their webs.

 **End of Chapter 9**

 **Alright, that was a nice little chapter to bang out before bed. Again, so sorry it took this long, but I'm glad I finally got it out. Thanks for reading, and this is Duffle signing out. Dueces!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello everybody! Duffle back once more with another chapter. No announcements this time, so let's hop right in!**

Chapter 10: Caught in the Spider's Web

As the webs started to fall off of everybody, Jolteon quickly stretched.

"Oh MAN it feels good to be free again." Jolteon was starting to jump up and down.

"Yeah, I agree. Spider webs are just _not_ my style…" Sylveon added.

Espeon rolled her eyes. "That's all very clever, but we have a problem." All the Eeveelutions looked at her as she pointed to Flareon. "What're we gonna do about him?"

Jolteon walked up to her. " _You're_ gonna cover him while we go take out the leader of whatever this place is."

Espeon was taken aback. "What?! You can't leave me here alone."

Vaporeon shook her head. "Sorry, but we can't have you holding us back anymore. Whenever you're around bugs, you start to hinder us, and we can't afford to do that."

Espeon looked at all their faces before sighing and sitting next to Flareon's body. "Ugh…"

The Eeveelutions turned around and ran, but not before she caught a sad glance from Umbreon. Espeon just scowled at him. _So much for not leaving me by myself…_ She thought. But she knew Umbreon was going to ignore her.

* * *

As the group walked deeper down into the cave-y area, Glaceon couldn't help but have her head down.

"Guys, do you really think we should just leave her like that? She's still a part of our group…" She said.

Sylveon shook her head. "Darling, as much as I'd love to have us all work as a group, it'd be too dangerous to leave poor Flareon alone. Besides, it's not like she'd want to do this anyways."

Umbreon was stuck in his own thoughts as well. He couldn't help but feel a twang of guilt within himself for leaving Espeon behind. Of course, he knew it was for the greater good in the end. She was scared to death and he liked free movement. But he had this strange feeling, this feeling he hadn't had in awhile. This feeling of… loneliness. Espeon was the one person who he could really talk to, and when she wasn't around, he was just… lost in thought. And when he got lost in thought, he could always feel this creeping sadness. The sadness of being alone and abandoned. One that he's felt all his life.

As this thought hit him, Umbreon suddenly halted in place. The other Eeveelutions stopped and turned back to him. Sylveon noticed something was wrong right away, but she opted to say nothing at first, if not to upset Umbreon.

"Umbreon, what's the hold up, man? We've gotta get out of here quickly or else we'll be overwhelmed!" Jolteon exclaimed.

Umbreon just shook his head and slowly started moving backwards. Glaceon raised an eyebrow. Umbreon was acting really strange all of a sudden…

Sylveon knew what was going on, so she finally decided to step in. "Umbreon, sweetie, is there something wrong?" Umbreon slowly nodded his head. He turned towards the direction they came in from and started to walk towards it. Jolteon became furious.

"Don't tell me you're going back there… Umbreon, don't do this to us!" Jolteon was gonna run towards him but Vaporeon stopped Jolteon from doing so.

"Chill out, Thunder Dog! Let him do what he wants. If he thinks he needs to do this, he's gonna do it. So shut up and keep walking."

Jolteon just stared at her blankly before nodding. _...Thunder Dog?_

* * *

Espeon started pacing back and forth, in mixture of both worry and panic. She was worried about absolutely everything at this point, and she couldn't help it. She just… _hated_ those disgusting bugs! And now they had captured all of them…

To make matters worse, she wasn't exactly sure of what the others were doing. For all she knew, more bugs could just come through the tunnel and attack her there. Flareon's out for the count and no one's here to protect her. Just fantastic. Espeon sighed and lay down on her stomach. This has been turning into one awful day, and she was sure everybody hated her at this point. She started to cry a little bit, letting her emotions get the better of her.

 _Hey, Espeon, why are you crying?_ Espeon looked up to see Umbreon walking back into the room. Espeon couldn't believe that he was coming back… Was this real?

 _You usually never let your emotions get the better of you. What's going on?_

 _Umbreon, I… I don't know. I'm just so scared and sad and everything's gone down the hole and I can't do anything about it because I'm too useless to do anything._ Espeon collapsed a little bit as Umbreon walked over.

 _Espeon, listen to me. You're definitely not worthless, I can definitely vouch for that. You are one of the only people I can talk to and you're always there for me. I'm sorry about before, but I'm here to fix what I did…_

 _Umbreon…_ Espeon brought her head up and smiled. _Thank you, it means a lot to me that you'd do this._

 _Trust me, it's nothing._

As they finished their talk, Flareon groaned and started to open his eyes. "Huh… Espeon? Umbreon? What're you two doing here…? And where are we?"

They looked at each other before Espeon spoke up. "Well, after you got knocked out, we appear to have been taken into a prison of some sort. As for why we're here, the rest of the group seems to have gotten ahead of us, so they're going to get a bit of a head start on us."

Flareon quickly got up and shook his head. "Then we've got no time to waste, let's go!"

The other two nodded as they ran through the tunnel.

* * *

The group slowly approached the end of the cave as Glaceon put a paw up, signalling everyone to stop. She peered over the corner and saw two Ariadoses guarding the entrance to the jail area. She moved her head a little closer to listen to what they were saying.

"So did ya hear? We've got 3 of the shards now, what with those Eevees losing their 2."

"Well, what d'you think the boss is gonna do with em? Use em for decoration?"

"Of course not, you dimwit! He's gonna sell em for money, and we'll finally be out of this forsaken swamp. No more swampy waters for me, I tell ya. The second I can get out of this place, I am."

"I think yer right there, lad."

"Of course I am, lad."

Jolteon walked up to Glaceon. "So, what're those two goons talking about?"

Glaceon held up a paw once more. "Give me a second." She breathed out a stream of ice which covered the two guards, freezing them solid. She turned back to Jolteon. "Okay, so it looks like the leader, presumably the Goliosopod that attacked Flareon, has a Green Orb shard. He's trying to get the shards to sell them and profit off of it. That way, they can move out of the swamp with his little bug army or whatever, and then live their life happily. Y'know, the usual bad guy stuff."

The rest of the group just gave her a weird look and nodded.

Vaporeon spoke up first. "Either way, he has our shards along with another one, so we need to take him out."

Leafeon looked at her. "And how are we supposed to do that? Our type advantage is currently cuddled away thinking about rainbows or whatever, and any other possible coverage we could have is currently too scared to even move."

"Well maybe you should put your chin up and face it like a man!" Jolteon said. All the girls glared at him, as he shrunk a little bit. _Nice going, buddy._

Sylveon walked in front of the group. "No worries, everybody. I will take the front. Those nasty bugs can't do a lot of damage to me, and as long as I don't get caught in a String Shot or Sticky Web, I should be fine."

The group nodded and slowly exited the entrance and into the main corridor. As they weaved in and out of the corridors, Leafeon couldn't help but feel a little worried. Never mind the type disadvantage and all that, she was used to it after training with Flareon all the time. It was more the fact that she was starting to feel… out of place. Like this was just some sort of story and she put herself in. She'd have to talk to Glaceon about that later…

Eventually, the group found themselves in what seemed to be the throne room. There were some trees scattered around the place, along with guards lining the halls, looking at them but not attacking.

"Guys… I have a bad feeling about this…" Leafeon said.

"Yeah… Be careful." Glaceon replied.

Suddenly, multiple bug pokemon swarmed the halls. Volbeats and the Paras family started lighting up as their leader appeared underneath the lights, lifting his arms up.

"Welcome to my domain! I sure hope you enjoy your stay here while you can!" the Pokemon shouted.

Glaceon leaned over to Sylveon. "Sylveon, what kind of Pokemon is that? I've never seen it before…"

"I… I think it's some kind of Ultra Beast... "

Glaceon looked shocked. "Ultra Beast? What's that?"

"I don't know much but apparently it's a special type of Pokemon, one that isn't native to our world. I've overheard Alakazam talking about it with Espeon a lot, but I never thought I'd see it here…"

The Ultra Beast just chuckled. "Well then, since you seem to know _what_ I am, allow me to tell you _who_ I am. My name is Buzzwole, the strongest bug type on this planet!" Buzzwole looked at the group. "And even though I am a bug, you will be the ones getting squashed today!"

Jolteon just groaned. "Ugh, we get it, you're a bug! Can we just kick each others' butts now?"

Buzzwole narrowed his eyes. "Patience, friend. You can accept defeat soon enough. But let me ask you something… Did you all really think this was a good idea?"

The group took in their surroundings. From all sides, they were completely surrounded. The entrance was blocked off as well, meaning there was no escape. It seemed as though even more of them were coming out every second.

"This is the land of bugs! Our numbers increase on a quick scale, so you'll know that our powers far outstrip your own! Take one of us down, and ten more come out!"

The Goliosopod scowled. _This is nothing like we should be… What happened to us?_

A Wimpod started to crawl out, but Goliosopod urged it to go back behind. "It's too dangerous out here. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you…"

"B-But Dad, I wanna fight too…"

Goliosopod shook his head. "Once I go out to fight, you may tag along. But for now, it seems we have this all under control."

The bug army rushed at the Eeveelutions as the fight began. A couple of bugs tried to swoop in from the skies, but Glaceon froze them in an instant with her Blizzard. "Guys, I'll try and cover the skies. Stick together and try to take out the ones on the ground. Spread attacks work best here!"

Everyone nodded and went into the battle. Sylveon began throwing out Dazzling Gleams while Leafeon covered her back with Leaf Storms. A Beedrill tried to swoop in and hit Sylveon with Poison Jab, but Jolteon blasted it away with Thunder.

"Tidal Wave!" Vaporeon sparked with a familiar green energy and let out a powerful Tidal Wave, sweeping through the room and taking out a whole group of bugs. The main corridor seemed clear, and Vaporeon smirked.

"Hah! Take that you stupid bugs!" Her smirk instantly disappeared as the bugs all got up and looked at her. "Wha… How…"

Buzzwole laughed. "You think we wouldn't be _prepared_ for your attacks? Of course, you of all people wouldn't be one to think ahead…"

Vaporeon growled. "You take that back!" She shot a powerful Hydro Pump which Buzzwole simply protected.

"You explorers are running my patience. Bugs! Take them out, now!" The bugs charged towards the group once more.

Sylveon took a step back. "I think we might've made a mistake here…"

* * *

Flareon, Espeon, and Umbreon were all running through the corridors. The sounds of the far off battle were echoing through the halls. They had no time to stop and listen, and it just made Flareon run faster. _C'mon guys, you gotta be okay. Don't you dare lose!_

As they began to reach the end, Flareon peered over and saw the door in which the battle was going on. "Guys!" He ran towards them, despite Espeon calling out to him.

"Flareon, wait!" Espeon's eyes began to widen as she saw the battle in front of her. She started to freak out a little bit before Umbreon put a paw on her shoulder.

 _It's gonna be fine. I'm right here._ Umbreon thought. Espeon smiled and gulped.

 _You're right. Let's do this thing._ Espeon thought back, both of them rushing in there to help their friends.

* * *

"Guys!"

The Eevee Group quickly looked back and saw Flareon rush into the room.

"Flareon! Boy am I glad to see you!" Glaceon said.

Flareon's body was covered in green lightning as he blasted his attack. "Sacred Fire!" Flareon's mouth opened as he blasted blue flames straight at the bugs, incinerating them all. Almost all of them fell over with swirls in their eyes.

"Tch." Buzzwole said. "You think you've won? Think again! You stand no chance, NO CHANCE!"

Right on cue, multiple bugs started flowing into the corridor, replacing the last group that was just defeated.

"There… are more of them? I put everything I had into that…" Flareon said.

Jolteon looked at Flareon. "Dude, I don't know how long we can keep this up… I'm already super tired…"

Flareon nodded. "This is bad…"

Espeon and Umbreon ran into the room. "Everyone, we're here!" Espeon cried out.

Vaporeon looked back and scowled. "Great… As if we didn't have enough to worry about as is…."

Espeon was a little hurt by this, but it was completely overshadowed by the amount of bugs in the room. She started shaking, eyes as wide as saucers. A Scizor flew through the air and was aiming straight at Espeon, but Umbreon pushed her out of the way, taking the attack and flying through the air. Espeon looked shocked as Umbreon was left on the ground. She looked around, seeing all of her friends in trouble. Her fear was starting to fade and was being replaced by a new feeling… This feeling started to swell up, threatening to burst as Espeon grit her teeth.

"You… You dirty, insignificant, vile, _disgusting_ little bugs…" Espeon glared at Buzzwole. "HOW DARE YOU HURT MY FRIENDS!"

The bright shard next to Buzzwole began to glow brightly and violently as it sparked all around.

"W-What the-?! What is this?!" The green lightning flew towards Espeon, and as it connected with her, she let out a blood curdling scream.

"PSYCHO BOOST!" Espeon's body became enveloped in a bright purple light. She could feel this new power flowing through her body as all the bugs stared in shock.

"I WILL END ALL OF YOU! DIIIIIIIIIIE!" Espeon unleashed her psychic powers and knocked all of the bugs, Goliosopod and Buzzwole included, to the ground.

"Say goodnight! Zen Cutter!" Espeon's gem glowed as a blade like beam appeared in front of her forehead before shooting towards Buzzwole, blasting him and knocking him unconscious. All the bugs were shocked as they slithered away in fear.

The Eeveelutions were all staring in shock at this new power as the aura around Espeon began to fade.

"I… Am I awake right now? I feel like I'm having a fever dream…" Flareon sputtered.

Umbreon got up and walked towards Espeon. _I knew you could do it._

 _Umbreon, you were the one who helped me through everything. I'm sorry about what I said before, you're really special to me. Thank you._

They both smiled and nuzzled each other, receiving a loud Awwwww from the other Eeveelutions. They both rolled their eyes, but they kept smiling either way.

Jolteon shook his fur. "Alright, I think it's time we leave before anymore bugs come after us."

Flareon stuffed the 3 shards into his bag. "I don't know, Espeon can easily handle them now. What d'you say?"

Espeon turned towards the entrance. "You know, I think I've had enough of bugs for a while."

Glaceon and Leafeon smirked. "Amen to that!" they said in unison as the group walked out.

 **End of Chapter 10**

 **Woah man, that was quite the doozy of a chapter! I honestly did not expect it to be this long, but I think you guys deserve a bit of a longer chapter after the absences I've taken. Anyways, if you liked the chapter, make sure to follow or favorite the chapter, as it makes me know you like the story and it keeps you updated. If you have any feedback, you can of course drop a review and I'll make sure to keep your feedback in mind for later chapters. Either way, this is DuffleGamer signing out. Deuces!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello everyone! Duffle finally back with another chapter! It took me a little while to settle into my dorm room, but I think I've finally got the time to crank out another chapter. I've flirted with the idea of maybe doing some more short stories, but I think I'm gonna stick with this for now. However, if you guys want more stories like Battle Stance, make sure to leave a review to let me know and I'd be happy to do so! Anyways, enough chit chat. Let's get down to business!**

Chapter 11: A Nice Break

As the Eevee Group exited the swampy waters, Sylveon shook around and tried to make herself dry, smiling whilst doing so. "Ugh, that swampy water was not good for my look, I'm glad to be out of there!" She brushed one of her ribbons back and gave a bright smile.

Jolteon just looked back and snickered. "Yeah, god forbid after all that happened to us in there that your looks are slightly dirtied. That's at the top of the list of our concerns." he said, somewhat sarcastically.

Noticing the sarcasm, Sylveon decided to give something back. "Well, at least my looks aren't at the bottom of the list, like you are."

An 'ooooooooh' could be heard from the other Eeveelutions as they kept walking.

"Gonna need a burn heal for that one," Flareon said, smirking as he kept walking next to Glaceon.

Jolteon blushed, but tried to remain somewhat composed. "Well, unlike you, I actually _contribute_ to the fights we're in!"

Sylveon butted heads with Jolteon, "I contribute way more than you ever will!"

Jolteon pushed back, "You're too busy being a frilly girl to ever contribute!"

"Well you're too busy being a stuck up jerk! And don't you dare call me frilly!"

"Okay, then how about brat?!"

Their bickering kept going back and forth as Flareon just sighed, dropping his head down. "Those will honestly be fighting for the rest of their lives."

Glaceon frowned. "Yeah… It's kind of worrying. Do you think it's gonna get in the way of everyone else?"

Flareon shook his head. "Nah, I'm sure we'll be fine. I'm on this team, how could we lose?"

Glaceon just rolled her eyes. One thing she was starting to notice lately was that Flareon was getting sort of… cocky? He was confident in his fighting abilities, and while he certainly had the strength to back it up…. Sometimes… It was starting to get to the hubris point. To the point where it could potentially be his undoing.

"Yeah yeah, keep being the superhero buddy." Glaceon smiled back. I guess she couldn't complain. Now that he wasn't training that much, it gave her more time to spend with him, and that was nice. She'd start giving him lessons on Pokemon culture and adapting to the world and all that in exchange for stories of his past life. His life was really interesting, though she could tell he was avoiding some details… Might have to press him on those in the future.

Despite the fun that Flareon and Glaceon were having, Leafeon was the one who wasn't. The walks between areas were once the only time Glaceon and Leafeon had the time to chat, but now even that was taken up by Flareon. She couldn't blame her, really. She was just a young girl who really liked our "leader". But at the same time, it made her upset that she was left in the dust. Like, hello, I'm supposed to be _helping_ you get with him, the least you could do is come back and talk for at least a minute!

But that wasn't even the worst of her problems. Like, sure, not being able to talk to her best friend sucks, but who she was replaced by was even worse.

"Hey there, Leafeon." _Speak of the devil, here she comes._ Leafeon thought. That voice was none other than Vaporeon. Of course, she wasn't as bad as before… In general. But the reason Vaporeon kept coming to Leafeon was to ask support about her love life. Which directly involved Flareon. For some reason.

"Hey yourself. Do you need something?

"Well, I was wondering if you'd like to do what I asked of you yesterday…" Vaporeon smirked a little bit.

"Girl, you're asking the wrong person. I don't know much about this guy and if I'm being honest, I most likely never will."

There was a glint in Vaporeon's eye. "Don't lie to me. I know exactly what you've been doing with Glaceon for all this time. Sneaking her into his time so she gets chances to talk to him."

Leafeon flinched, and Vaporeon smirked. _So, it seems like I'm right._

"...If you know, then why are you coming to me to help you?"

"Because, I'm going to give you an offer. You stop helping Glaceon get with Flareon and start helping me. In exchange…" Vaporeon pointed over to Glaceon. "...You get your best friend back, without any issues. Do we have a deal?"

Leafeon bit her lip. She knew this would have horrible consequences if anyone found out about this. She wanted to support her best friend, of course, but… That feeling of loneliness was deeply rooted within her, and she really wanted her best friend to come back.

"...Deal. I'll help you get with Flareon."

Vaporeon smiled. "Awe, thanks a bunch. I really appreciate it. We can start brainstorming once we get to the next town. Ta ta!" Vaporeon waved her tail and walked a little away from Leafeon. Leafeon sneered.

 _I can't believe I'm doing this… Maybe I shouldn't do it, this seems like a bad idea. I could lose my friendship entirely. But I just wanna talk to her…_ Leafeon shook her head. _No, I made my word, I'm going through with it. Maybe just for a short while. And besides, as long as they're no underhanded statements, Flareon will just choose on his own, and everything will be just fine._

Leafeon looked back and saw Umbreon and Espeon looking at each other, most likely talking about the past events through telepathy. Leafeon just sighed and kept walking.

* * *

As the group continued walking, Espeon decided to use her mouth to speak. "Everyone, we're going to be reaching a town nearby soon. I don't sense any Green Orb energy, so I think we should be safe to relax for a little bit."

Flareon balled his paw into a fist and pumped it. "Sweet! Oh man, I've been waiting to get a good rest for a while now, I can't wait!"

Jolteon and Sylveon, who had finally stopped their bickering, smiled at the thought.

"Ooh, I just can't wait to finally sleep in a bed for once…~"

Espeon perked up a little bit more and smiled. "Also, there seems to be a festival of some sort going on here, so I think we all may have lucked out."

The Eeveelutions all smiled at each other, the widest ones they've made in quite a while. However, those smiled quickly disappeared as they heard a voice from nearby.

"Hey hey hey, did you forget about us?" 4 squirtles with Bandanas dropped down and gave a thumbs up. "It's us, the Squirtle Bros, and we're back to steal those shards!"

Flareon face-palmed. "Dear Arceus, not these guys again…"

"Haha, that's right! We're back again and you better be scared!" Blue said.

Espeon sighed and picked them up with her telekinesis. "Ok, that's enough out of all of you."

"H-Hey! Let us go!" The 4 of them began to struggle a little bit.

Sylveon walked up to them. "Hey, why don't you all join us in going to the nearby town? I know deep down you're all good Pokemon, and it'll be a lot of fun! What d'you say?~"

The Squirtle Squad looked at each other before all nodding and being dropped to the ground. The quickly got up and stood up straight for Sylveon.

Sylveon just giggled and kept walking. "Alright then, we don't have any time to waste. Hop to it, it's almost night!" The Squirtles all saluted and started marching behind Sylveon.

Flareon just raised an eyebrow to Glaceon who shook her head. "Flareon, I honestly have no idea." Flareon shrugged and kept walking with the rest of them towards the town.

 **End of Chapter 11**

 **Alright guys, sorry for the semi-short chapter, I wanted to get this one out so you guys have something to read while I scrape together other ideas. Anyways, if you guys have any questions, comments, or concerns, please leave a review as it always makes me happier to see a positive review and it motivates me to keep writing. On the other hand, a review with constructive criticism helps me improve and makes me better as a writer, so please consider doing that as well. Anyways, this is Duffle signing out, deuces!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello everybody! Duffle back once again with another chapter of Tales of an Eevee Pack! Quick warning before we start, this chapter is complete filler until I organize my ideas for the main story, so if you were expected plot progression, I'm sorry to disappoint you. Either way, let's cut the chit chat and hop right in!**

Chapter 12: Oh, the Uncertainty!

Leafeon slowly opened her eyes as the sun shined in from the window. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. _Well, guess it's time to get up, then…_

Leafeon got out of the bed and started walking downstairs. When she came to the ground floor, she went to the cafe and ordered some food for herself, sitting down and eating in silence. She still couldn't shake off this bad feeling that she had had every since yesterday.

 _What am I doing? How is Glaceon gonna feel to know that I'm trying to separate her from the guy she loves?_ Leafeon shook her head. _No, come on, snap out of it. It'll be fine, everything is going to be fine. I just wish I didn't have all these doubts…_

Leafeon was quickly snapped out of her thoughts as Glaceon and Vaporeon started walking towards her. She shuddered a little bit before waving to them. "Good morning, guys! Did you sleep well?"

Glaceon giggled. "I slept fine, thanks."

Vaporeon smirked at Leafeon. "Yeah, I suppose I slept well. Lots of good dreams going through my head, y'know?" She winked and Leafeon couldn't help but grit her teeth. _And to think she changed… She's the same except she's a jerk to everyone except the guys!_

Glaceon looked between them with a confused expression, but shook it off. _Those two have been acting pretty weird lately. I should probably ask them about it._

"So anyways, Glaceon," Leafeon said as Glaceon shifted her gaze to her. "What's the plan for today?"

Glaceon thought for a little bit. "Well, I've heard that since there's a festival going on, lots of the shops are on sale! We could get some really cool stuff if we head out now."

Vaporeon nodded. "Sounds like a plan! You two can go on ahead, I'll catch up to you."

Leafeon nodded. "Alright Glaceon, let's go!" Leafeon basically started dragging her out of the inn as Vaporeon smirked evilly. _This'll be easier than I thought!_

Glaceon finally got up on her feet after being dragged out and looked at her friend. "Leafeon, what the heck? Why'd you have to go and do that?"

She just nervously laughed. "Well, you know what they say, don't wanna bother those who are still eating, haha!" She frantically looked around until she found a stall selling move boosting items. "Oh look, a cool stall! Let's go over there!" Leafeon rushed over to the stall.

Glaceon knew something was up. Not only did she always ask Glaceon before doing things, but she's never acted this dodgy before. Glaceon sighed. _Well, I guess I'll have to ask her about that later, too…_

As the two approached the stand, the Quagsire slowly welcomed them to the store. There were multiple battle items there, but one that quickly got the attention of Glaceon was a Charcoal. She picked it up and examined it for a little bit.

"Ah, that's a Charcoal. It'll boost the damage of any Fire Type attacks. You got any Firey Friends, young lady?" The Quagsire asked.

Glaceon smiled. "Yes, yes I do, actually. I think I'll take it." Glaceon looked over. "Leafeon, Flareon is just going to love this!"

Leafeon just sweat dropped. "Hehe, yeah, I bet he will…"

Glaceon gave Quagsire the money and put the Charcoal in her bag. She thanked the shopkeeper before moving on to the next shop.

Vaporeon was just about finished with her food as Jolteon and Flareon ended up entering the cafe, talking to each other about one thing or another, Vaporeon couldn't tell from where she was. She smiled and quickly tried to make herself look good before she eventually caught their eye. Flareon smiled and walked over, food in hand.

"Well now, you're up earlier than usual, Vaporeon. Usually Jolteon and I are the only ones up by now." Flareon said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, Flare, I'm actually quite excited for today. You see, since today's the festival, I thought it would be a great time for us to go shopping together!" Vaporeon said, looking very upbeat and happy.

Flareon's expression softened, "Well… Jolteon and I were going to enter the Double Battle competition…"

"Pfft, come on Flareon, we've been battling ever since we left! Can't you just take a break, this one time?" Vaporeon looked at him with puppy eyes.

Flareon flinched a little and was letting out sweat. Jolteon noticed this and nudged him, getting his attention. Flareon looked over at Jolteon, who was just shaking his head. Flareon sighed and looked back. "Look, Vaporeon, Jolteon and I really want to do this. I can do stuff with you afterwards, if it really matters that much…" His voice started to falter at the end.

Vaporeon just huffed and looked away. "Fine, I don't even want to be with you! You can just go off and do your own thing, jerk!"

Flareon looked sad. "Cmon, Vaporeon, don't be like that…"

Jolteon just tugged at Flareon and started walking away. Flareon had a solemn expression as he followed suit, exiting the inn. "Flareon, you do not want to get caught up with her."

Flareon looked confused. "Jolteon, what're you talking about?"

Jolteon sighed. "Flareon, you're not suited for her and she's not suited for you. Don't try to pursue this."

Flareon had an empty expression before realization struck. "W-What? No, Jolteon, come on, don't get any crazy ideas up in that head of yours. We're just friends, and I'm gonna keep it that way."

"Dude, she totally had it for you, but not in a good way. You need to keep your distance." He narrowed his eyes at Flareon.

"Oh come on, what would you know about my love life? You can't even keep your own stable!" Flareon spat back.

Jolteon gave a 'Tch' in reply. "Look man, I'm just trying to help you, and Vaporeon spells out bad news for both of you. So either listen to me and don't get started with her, or you can and you're gonna learn the hard way why that was a mistake. Understood?"

"Yeesh, I get it, I get it, I won't get started with her." Flareon backed away a little.

Jolteon smirked and continued walking. "Good. Anyways, we need to get ready for the double battle tournament. It's gonna be a great time, just you wait!"

Flareon sighed. "Yeah… I'm sure it will…"

Leafeon was pulling Glaceon from stall to stall, trying to get as much out of the shopping trip as she could. She'd already filled her bag with loads of trinkets, but she'd always find something knew that she _had_ to have.

Glaceon, however, was becoming very burnt out. She started panting and panting as Leafeon's hyperness started to overtake her. Eventually, she just couldn't take it anymore and slipped out of Leafeon's grip. She gave her a hard expression. "Leafeon, stop it! Why do you keep dragging me everywhere? I'm getting super tired out here!"

Leafeon jumped at the sudden rise of voice from Glaceon. Leafeon just scratched the back of her head and tried to get an excuse. "Well, uh… I just… Want to look for the quick sales! Yeah, you never know, some might be ending in mere minutes and we have to get them! We just have to!"

Glaceon sneered. "That's not the reason at all. You're hiding something from me, aren't you?" Leafeon was taken aback and gulped. "Aha, I knew it! Leafeon, come on, you can tell me what's up. Why are you dragging me all over the place?"

"B-Because… Because…" Leafeon looked down. "Because I'm jealous of Flareon…"

Glaceon looked at her puzzled. "Wha? Jealous of him? But why?"

"Because ever since I've started helping you get with him, you've been spending more time with _him_ than with _me_! He single-handedly took away my best friend!" Leafeon started to tear up a little bit, and Glaceon gave her a sad expression.

"Awe, Leaf, c'mere…" Glaceon gave her a hug. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to leave you in the dust… I suppose I just got too caught up in it."

 _Sniff_ "I just want my best friend back…" Leafeon was starting to really cry now, as Glaceon pulled away and looked her in the eyes.

"Leafeon, you don't need to be jealous about anything. You're right, I have been ignoring you and I'm sorry. I promise, from here on out, I will stick with you as much as possible."

Leafeon wiped away some tears. "Y-You really mean it?"

Glaceon nodded. "Of course I do. Now c'mon, this heat is killing me and I need something cold, wanna go get some ice cream?"

Leafeon looked super excited. "Boy, would I!"

Glaceon smiled. "It's good to have you back." She said as the two went towards the ice cream stand.

 **End of Chapter 12**

 **Wew, that was a fun chapter to write! It might be a little on the short side, but I think you guys expect this of me at this point. Anyways, if you have anything you want to say to me, make sure to leave a review and tell me what you think! This is Duffle, signing out. Deuces!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey hey hey! Duffle is back once again with another chapter of Tales of an Eevee Pack! Huge thanks to all of you for reading it, I really appreciate the support you've all given me and it really keeps me going, so thank you! Anyways, with that out of the way, let's just hop right in!**

Chapter 13: Conflict of Interests

"Alrighty folks, it's time for the 15th annual Tag Team Tournament! 16 teams have gathered from across the entire land in order to come fight in our esteemed tournament for the grand prize of…" the announcer, a Loudred who seemed especially loud, pointed over to a pile of money, "...10000 Poke!"

Flareon's attention was grabbed at that last part of the announcement, and looked over at Jolteon. "Jolteon, did you hear that? 10000 Poke! We'd never have to worry about funds for our trip ever again!"

Jolteon looked over. "Flareon, last I checked, you weren't exactly the one doing funds for the group. You just left that to the nerds while you and I talked battle strategies."

" _I_ talked about battle strategies. _You_ just sat there and nodded, while occasionally asking how much fighting you'd be doing and how fast you needed to be." Flareon gave him a half-glare.

Jolteon rolled his eyes. "Look, let's just focus on the battles, alright?"

Flareon sighed and looked towards the stands. There was a decent amount of people lined up, but not a whole bunch. It made sense, the doubles tournament was just about to start, people would only really watch the later matches. He shifted his gaze and saw Vaporeon sitting in the stands, right next to Sylveon. Flareon raised an eyebrow at this. _Wouldn't Sylveon be in the tournament? I suppose this is a bit of a fighting break for everyone… But where's everyone else?_ Flareon was a little saddened at the prospect of not having the rest of the group there. He didn't know why, but it stung a little bit more that Vaporeon showed up and not anybody else.

Flareon shook his head. _No, I need to focus. Don't worry about that, worry about our opponents._ He looked down the two Pokemon that walked into the arena. Nothing too threatening, just a Vulpix and a Growlithe. Not too much trouble, but a threat nonetheless. Flareon looked over at Jolteon.

"Alright, here's the plan. I'm sure you and I wanna finish this quickly so that we don't lose too much stamina, so I'm gonna face both of them head-on while you dash around and charge Thunder. When you're ready, give me a signal and I'll jump out of the way. Got it?"

Jolteon nodded and got into ready position, preparing to start running. The ref for this area of battles, a Machop, walked up to the field and started speaking. "Alright, fighters get into your battle positions."

Flareon got into a ready position, with the Vulpix and Growlithe doing the same. The Machop raised his hand before throwing it down. "Begin!"

Flareon dashed straight in and got into a tackle war with the Growlithe. Jolteon began charging, which Vulpix noticed immediately. She tried to run over to Jolteon, but Flareon backed away from the Growlithe and smacked her with Take Down. Growlithe ran back towards Flareon and tried to hit him with Bite, but Flareon quickly dodged out of the way. Jolteon's Thunder was almost ready, but Flareon was starting to get hit. Growlithe bit down on Flareon and Vulpix landed a Tackle. Flareon quickly got up, shaking out the pain and getting ready to fight them again, but thankfully, he didn't need to. Jolteon gave the signal and Flareon nodded, using Sand Attack on the opposing Fire types before jumping out of the way. The other team could barely react before the Thunder crash down upon them, knocking them both out. Machop raised his hand.

"The opposing team is unable to battle, which means Flareon and Jolteon are the winners!" Jolteon smirked and gave Flareon a hi-five.

"Nothing to worry about." Flareon rolled his eyes at his friend, but he was still smiling ear to ear, so he couldn't complain. He looked over to the stands and saw just Vaporeon and Sylveon, and his mood fell a little bit. However, he quickly shook it off and went to where their next battle would be.

* * *

"One chocolate and one Vanilla, please!" Glaceon received both of the cups and balanced them on her head back to where Leafeon was sitting. Leafeon took the Vanilla ice cream and started licking it, while Glaceon set her Chocolate down. Leafeon smiled.

"Wow, this is amazing! I never knew Ice Cream out here would taste so good~" Leafeon exclaimed.

Glaceon smiled back. "Yeah, it is really good, I must say." Glaceon continued to lick her ice cream.

Leafeon's expression lit up. "Hey, Glace, why don't we go watch that doubles tournament? Didn't you say that Flareon and Jolteon were entering that?"

Glaceon thought for a second before she remembered. "Oh yeah, they were! But are you sure you wanna go? I thought this was supposed to be time for us to hang out."

"Pssh. It's fine, I've already had a great time! Besides, we'll still be having fun together, I just think we should go support Flareon."

Glaceon gave Leafeon a look. " _And_ Jolteon."

Leafeon gave a knowing. "Mhm, yeah, sure."

Glaceon rolled her eyes. "Alright, fine, let's go."

Leafeon giggled and walked towards the arena, with Glaceon right behind her.

* * *

Sylveon and Vaporeon were looking at the battles from the stands, but idle chatter soon followed.

"So, Sylveon, how're you and Jolteon doing?"

"Darling, for the last time, we're not dating. I don't even _like_ him. I'm here to support the joint group because if we win, we never have to worry about money again."

Vaporeon rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. We all know you two spend a lot of time with each other."

Sylveon sent her glance Vaporeon's way. "And yet, you rarely spend time with Flareon. What's up with that?"

Vaporeon blushed. "I-I'll have you know that we spend… plenty of time with each other."

Sylveon shook her head. "Honey, I know you're trying. Trust me, I know exactly what you're going through, but what you're doing is not right. It wasn't meant to be, and trying to force it."

Vaporeon looked shocked. "You… found out about that? How did you…"

"I could sense it through your emotions. As soon as I started talking about Flareon, you began to become guilty. Sad. Alone." Sylveon put her paw on Vaporeon's back. "Look, even if this doesn't work out, we all still have you back, and I know he likes you, just not in that way."

Vaporeon's expression sunk. "...He likes Glaceon, doesn't he?"

"It's been pretty obvious, yes. But he's too stubborn and he's too unfamiliar with who he is. He's afraid to say anything about it because he doesn't know what his future is like. He's confused, both physically and emotionally, so I think it'd be best if you and I don't interfere and let the two of them sort it out on their own."

Vaporeon was stuck in thought. She'd never really thought of it that way, and know that Sylveon was telling her this, she started to become more guilty, which Sylveon picked up on.

"Sweetie, don't worry, no one's gonna blame you for what you did. It'll all be fine in the end." Sylveon moved her glance and saw two people she knew walking their way. "In fact, I think you can find that out right about now."

Vaporeon perked up and saw Glaceon and Leafeon walking her way, climbing up the stands and sitting next to them.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" Leafeon asked.

Sylveon smiled. "Oh, it's been lovely!~ The two boys have been absolutely crushing it in the tournament. They're already in the Semifinals!"

"Wow, that's great news!" Glaceon responded.

" _ **And now, ladies and gentlemen, the second Semifinals match! In the left corner, we've got the power team, the Pokemon that have been sweeping their way through the bracket, Jolteon and Flareon!"**_ Both of the Eeveelutions stepped out into the arena, waving and smiling as they stepped in, though Flareon was smiling a lot less.

" _ **And in the right corner, we've got the big bads, the terrible dark types, the sneaky Pokemon who've caught everyone off guard, Bisharp and Weavile!"**_ Bisharp and Weavile stepped out of the gate and stared down the two Eeveelutions, smirking whilst doing so. Flareon hesitated and leaned over to Jolteon.

" _Psst, Jolteon, aren't those the guys we fought when we got the first shard?"_

" _Yeah, they are. Don't lose your composure, we can win this one."_

Flareon gulped and nodded. In all honesty, he wasn't that confident, especially since he didn't have his confidence booster at his side, but he tried to shake it off. The Machop walked to the side of the arena and looked at both teams.

"The match rules will continue to be the same, as I'm sure you all know. Get ready…"

The 4 Pokemon got into a fighting stance as Machop threw down his hand. "Go!"

Bisharp jumped to the side as Weavile instantly unleashed a Blizzard attack on the two Eeveelutions. Jolteon dodged it and ran towards Bisharp, but Flaroen had a different idea. He ran through the Blizzard and straight towards Weavile, ready to hit him with Fire Fang. However, Weavile was too fast, and smacked Flareon with Metal Claw. Flareon charged up a Flamethrower and was about to unleash it, but Weavile stopped it by using Assurance. Flareon was knocked to the ground, and Weavile pummeled him with Fury Swipes.

Jolteon looked away from his battle with Bisharp. "Flareon!" Jolteon tried to run over to his teammate, but Bisharp caught him with Pursuit and flung him to the ground. Flareon struggled to get out of Weavile's grasp, and so Weavile just smacked him with Crush Claw. Flareon gave out a scream of pain, and Weavile tossed him away, with Jolteon following.

"Flareon, dude, what's wrong? You're letting him run all over you!" Jolteon helped his friend up.

"I.. I'm sorry dude, I just can't focus." Flareon stumbled as he got up. "I can't get the motivation."

Jolteon sighed. "We can't let these guys beat us…"

"Is that really all you've got?" Weavile said, acting very cocky. "I was expecting more out of you guys, but apparently you aren't that strong without your girlfriends, are you?"

Flareon grit his teeth as he looked up, but as he did, he saw Glaceon in the stands cheering for him. Flareon looked over at Jolteon. "You're right, we can't let these guys beat us. I have a plan."

Jolteon listened in on the plan and smiled. "I like that plan."

"Good, cause we're sticking with it. Let's go!" Flareon started running towards the two dark types, and right when Bisharp was about to hit him, Flareon set up a Protect. Bisharp's attack bounced off and Flareon quickly hit him with Fire Fang, knocking Bisharp down. Weavile looked on, shocked, and didn't even see Jolteon coming at him with Thunderbolt. Weavile was smacked over to where Bisharp was, and they both struggled to get up. However, Flareon set up a Fire Spin around them, trapping them in place.

"Jolteon, now!" Both of the Eeveelutions charged up their strongest attack. Flareon with Blue Flame and Jolteon with Thunder and released it at the same time, creating Blue Thunder which collided with the dark types, knocking them out.

"The Dark types are unable to battle, which means the Eevee Team wins!" Flareon jumped up excitedly and fist bumped Jolteon, who was smirking from ear to ear. The other Eevees in the stand were cheering very loudly, happy that they managed to pull through.

Bisharp and Weavile slowly got up, cringing as their wounds began to sting. "You… You worms may have gotten us this time, but we'll be back, and even stronger than before, you hear me?!" Bisharp said.

Jolteon smirked. "Yeah yeah, we get it, the only damage you can do to us is threats. Now get out of here and quit embarrassing yourselves."

Weavile and Bisharp growled before running out of the arena.

* * *

The Finals of the Tournament was a complete wash. Two of the Squirtle Bros somehow made it to Finals, in which Jolteon has promptly took care of both of them. Jolteon described it as anti-climactic, while Flareon described it as "free money". As Flareon and Jolteon were leaving the stadium with money in tow, the rest of the group walked out to meet them.

"Wow guys, that was incredible! I didn't know you could fight like that!" Leafeon said.

Flareon just chuckled. "Yeah, well, it certainly wasn-"

He was cut off was Jolteon butted in. "But of course, it's not like anyone was going to give _us_ a challenge. I mean, come on, we're the strongest Pokemon out there!"

Flareon gave an awkward chuckle, but Sylveon saved him. "Uh-huh, yeah, certainly the strongest when you almost lost in the Semis."

Jolteon was visibly upset by this and growled at Sylveon. "Hey, you shut your mouth! I could beat you any day!"

Sylveon got up in his face. "Oh yeah? And you wanna _bet_ on that one?!"

"You couldn't beat me in your wildest dreams!"

"You couldn't even land a hit on _me!_ "

"Yes I could!"

"No you couldn't!"

The other Eeveelutions sighed. "Well, there they go again…" Vaporeon said.

"Yeah, I think it's best if we just let them do their own thing. You guys wanna head back to the inn?" Flareon asked. The other Eevees nodded and headed back.

* * *

As the other Eeveelutions were headed to bed, Vaporeon was sitting in the cafe, by herself. She was reflecting on what Sylveon said when Leafeon walked down.

"Vaporeon? What're you doing down here?" Vaporeon looked up.

"O-Oh, um… I was just reflecting, is all."

Leafeon sat down at the chair across from Vaporeon. "Hey, so… I know-"

"Yeah, I know. Look, I'm sorry for setting you guys up like that, I was… blinded. I didn't want to ruin anything, I promise."

Leafeon blinked. "Well I came down here to apologize to you for not doing what you told me to do…"

"No, Leaf, I'm not doing that anymore. I'm not gonna interfere with Flareon and Glaceon from here on out. They were meant to be and I'm going to let them do what they want. Good night." Vaporeon walked away back to her room.

Leafeon looked at her in awe. "Vaporeon…" Leafeon was left to her own thoughts for a while until she, too, went to sleep.

 **End of Chapter 13**

 **Alright, finally! It's been a long time coming, but I finally cranked this chapter out! Thank you all for being patient, and I'd really appreciate it if you gave this story some support as it'd let me know that you like what I do. Also, don't be afraid to leave a review if you think I did something wrong or if you just wanna send me a nice comment. Anything helps! Anyways, this is DuffleGamer signing out. Deuces!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey everybody! Duffle here with my monthly upload of Tales of an Eevee Pack! Sorry that uploads have been slow, motivation to do it has been low and I was trying to get school in check, but now that I'm all set, let's hop right into it!**

Chapter 14: Some Slides Just Aren't Fun:

As the Eeveelutions packed up their things and prepared to head out for their next grand adventure, Flareon was just about done and began to skim over some important notes from Espeon. She had given him a run-down on how they were going to use the money won in the Doubles Tournament in order to fund not only supplies for the party, but also each individual member.

 _Because everyone just NEEDS that hot new item in the store, don't they?_ Flareon thought to himself. He shook his head. He supposed that he really couldn't complain with the distribution of money, especially since a good majority of it was still being put towards the group as a whole, but the fact that the money that was being taken by the individual party members would most likely end up being spent on a worthless item in the shop. To snap him out of his thoughts, Flareon heard a knock on the door, which whisked him back into reality. He turned his attention to the door and opened it up. Flareon's mood instantly improved as he saw Glaceon's beaming and happy face at the door.

"Oh, hey Glaceon, what's up?" Flareon said, putting on a large smile.

"Nothing much. I just wanted to give you an item that I forgot to give you yesterday..." Glaceon pulled out the charcoal from her bag and handed it over to Flareon. "It's a charcoal, which increases the power of Fire Type attacks. This probably would've been helpful in the tournament, but you were busy and I forgot to give it to you after the matches but… I hope it's helpful."

Flareon took the charcoal and looked at it for a little bit. "Wow, Glaceon… Thanks a lot! This will surely help me out." Flareon gave a bright smile as he put away the Charcoal. He closed his bag and turned back towards Glaceon. "So, have you been holding up fine? It's been a long journey and I wanna make sure you're doing fine."

Glaceon smiled, but it faded to a frown. "Don't worry, Flareon, I'm fine. I'm more worried about you… You've been working so hard lately and you didn't even take this time to rest… Are you gonna be okay in the coming areas?"

Flareon shook his head. "I'm fine, don't worry about me. I got plenty of rest, fighting is just how I vent out. Thanks for the worry, and I appreciate the thought, but I'm gonna be A-OK."

Glaceon's look of worry disappeared. "Well… Alright. But if anything is wrong, the rest of us can pick up some slack, alright?"

Flareon smiled. "Thanks, Glaceon. I appreciate it."

* * *

The Eeveelutions left the town and began walking towards their next destination, being directed by Espeon. As they were walking, Espeon's expression became more and more distressed. Eventually, she opened her eyes back up and addressed the group. "Bad news, everyone. Alakazam has contacted the mayor of the next town, and they said there isn't a Green Orb Shard anywhere around there. They've already made a search for the area around their main stronghold, but they could not find any trace of it."

The Eeveelutions all looked back at Espeon, shocked at the news. Jolteon was the first to break the silence. "What? But that's impossible! They sent a recon squad to go search for it, and they couldn't find it? There's supposed to be a shard at every town, right? That's what Alakazam said!"

Espeon bit her lip. "It might be a situation similar to that of the Squirtle Bros, where a bandit has taken the shard and waiting until we come, but I doubt it. This area has a very good police and punishment system, so bandits are not very common. Either way, it is urgent that we all proceed with caution. This bodes extremely poorly for the rest of the adventure, especially since we've lost all contact with the energy of the other shards as well. If we cannot find the shard in this area, it's safe to assume the shard will continue to take its effect on the area and bring all of it to the brink of collapse. I think we need to find this shard or get as much information as possible on possible locations of the shards, but then we should go back to our village and regroup. We need the location of these shards, because without them, we're going to be incredibly lost."

Flareon nodded. "Good idea, but for now, we need to focus on trying to find a shard in this area or possibly solving a major problem here. Espeon, do you have any crucial info on this place?"

Espeon closed her eyes. "It's mostly mountainous. A large mountain range extends across the entire region, hiding a village within its boundaries. This village is somewhat of a capital for the surrounding villages at the base, and serves as a point of order for the region. The other villages tend to be much smaller and more specific with its Pokemon types, but the center is mostly composed of both Rock and Flying type Pokemon. Because of how we're typed, we're all gonna need to support each other in case we get into a fight, or else they'll just pick us off based on our specific weaknesses."

Flareon nodded and turned to the the rest of the group. "Alright everyone, because of what Espeon said, we're gonna need to stick together. Cover each other when we're put at a disadvantage, and don't let them overwhelm you. If you are at a type disadvantage, don't be afraid to go to someone else in order to get help from them. We're a team, and so we need to stick together and make sure we get through this safely."

"Pfft." Vaporeon looked completely disinterested. "No worries, it should be a piece of cake for us. We've taken down everyone in our way so far, and that isn't gonna change!"

Flareon gave Vaporeon a glare. "Vaporeon, I'm serious about this! We're fighting in unfamiliar terrain and-"

Jolteon nudged Flareon a little bit. "Awe, c'mon buddy. What happened to your fighter attitude? You used to charge in and take care of business, but now you're _boring._ Vaporeon's right, we should just go in and show em who's boss, amiright?" Jolteon and Vaporeon smirked at Flareon.

Glaceon decided to step in. "Guys, Flareon is just trying to make sure we all come out of this safely, you don't need to…"

Vaporeon shook her head. "No way, girlfriend. I'm running my own train through the enemy. They're Rock and Flying, they can't do anything to me! I don't need any help from any of you, you'll just hold me back cause I'll have to support you all time."

Jolteon smirked too. "And I'll be just fine on my own. I can cover Vaporeon if she ends up getting her butt kicked."

Flareon started to get ticked off. "God, did the Desert Oasis teach you guys _nothing?!_ We need to work as a team in order to fight off these threats, or we're all gonna get separated and slaughtered! We can't just rush in head first towards our problems! Don't you understand?!"

Vaporeon snapped back at him. "What the Desert Oasis taught _me_ was that I saved all of your butts! I don't need you all to support me, I'm just fine on my own! So you stop trying to tell me what to do, and we're gonna be fine, 'kay?" Vaporeon walked towards the mountains, Jolteon soon following after her as Flareon just stood there in shock.

A deafening silence filled the area, but it was soon broken by Glaceon who approached Flareon to comfort him. "Hey, Flareon… Don't worry about them, I think you're doing fi-"

"I don't wanna hear it. Just keep moving. If they want to go and throw their lives out the window, that is _fine_ by me!" Flareon huffed and turned away, walking through the path towards the town.

"...fine." Glaceon looked crushed as Flareon just walked away, but Sylveon walked over and tried to reassure her.

"Hun, don't worry about it. He's just frustrated. You know how quick to anger he is…" Glaceon nodded. He was very quick to anger if something didn't go his way, and she didn't really like it that much. In fact, she hated it. It always put her into a bad mood whenever he flared up like that, and so she just shook her head.

"I know. Doesn't mean I have to like it." Glaceon sighed. "Oh well, I guess all of us can just talk." She looked over at Leafeon and motioned to her, with the three of them walking forward.

"Don't let him get you down, sis. You've got us! And besides, he's probably just stressed out. That guy can be quite the loon when he doesn't get his beauty sleep." Leafeon said, giggling at her own joke.

"Yeah…" Glaceon sadly agreed. Espeon and Umbreon watched this scene and had grim expressions.

" _Umbreon, this might be an issue for us in the long run. No one really has a good outlook on Flareon right now."_

" _Espeon, with all due respect, I don't see how this affects the group, just that Flareon isn't very popular anymore."_

Espeon gave him a look. " _Umbreon, whether you like it or not, Flareon is our leader. If people don't rally around him, they're going to be scattered."_

" _Espeon, Flareon has shown that he's not a good leader. I've seen him lose his temper multiple times, and instead of rallying the group around him to solve a problem, he usually either rushes in or gets upset and makes it worse."_

" _And do you think that someone else would be better for the role? Because I'm certainly not going to uptake it."_

" _Why not? With your knowledge, you would be much better and more appropriate for the position than Flareon."_

Espeon sighed. " _Because, Umbreon, I couldn't deal with the stress. Flareon's job is to lead us and make sure everyone's come out safe. He is courageous and a strong fighter, two attributes that make a good leader, and both of which I lack. He would not hesitate to throw himself into danger if it meant saving one of us, and I've seen it many times myself. None of us can do it ourselves, and so we look up to him because of that."_

" _...I see your point. Very well, I suppose we should try to rally everybody back up. But how do we do that?"_

" _They have to regain the trust themselves. Maybe a battle in the future can have everybody restore their faith in Flareon, but there's nothing that we can directly do to influence their decision. This is all on him now."_

Umbreon nodded. " _We should go follow the rest, they've gotten a pretty good distance lead on us right now."_

" _You're right. Let us hurry, these regions can be incredibly hostile towards outsiders."_ The two nodded and then both rushed after the rest of the group.

* * *

The Eeveelutions eventually made it towards a type of toll, with two Rhyperiors blocking the way that they were going. Espeon pulled Flareon aside before he went up to talk.

"Flareon, the path we're on is very narrow and one misstep could cause us to fall down the entire mountain. This is not an optimal place for a fight, so try to keep relations between each other clean for now."

Flareon nodded. "Yeah, I will." Flareon approached the Rhyperiors, but they immediately blocked the entrance to the town. Flareon raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me, but I need to enter your town. There's some business that I need to take care of."

"Sorry buddy, but we were given specific orders to keep you and your friends out of this town at all costs. I must ask you to leave." The left guard said.

"Well, I'm not taking no for an answer. The business I have is incredibly important, and we were told that your leader was expecting us, so please let us in."

"Our leader told us you might be telling these lies about our town. If you refuse to listen us, we will remove you and your friends by force." The Rhyperior got into a fighting stance and looked at Flareon. The other Rhyperior did the same.

Flareon looked at his surroundings. He could see many flying type Pokemon that used to be cycling the area landing around the group. Flareon just clicked his tongue. _Maybe we should just leave and regroup… We're at a serious disadvantage and we can't afford to fight in these conditions. We need to go back and think of a way to take out the flying types before trying to enter…_

Suddenly, Vaporeon ran past Flareon and just blasted both of the Rhyperiors with Surf, knocking them both out. "Out of the way, Flareon! I'm tired of waiting!"

Flareon's shock was soon replaced by anger and frustration. "Vaporeon, are you kidding me?! Why did you do that?!"

"Because, I'm tired of waiting, it's time to fight!" Vaporeon got into a fighting position as the birds started to close in on the entire group, looking vicious.

"We weren't _supposed_ to fight here! This is awful terrain and-" Flareon was thrown to the side by a Staraptor who smacked him with Brave Bird. It was about to follow up, but Vaporeon blasted it with Hydro Pump.

"Just shut up and start fighting, Fire Boy!" Vaporeon started shooting Hydro Pumps at the incoming Pidgeots and Mandibuzzes.

The other Eeveelutions started to fight as well. Glaceon fired off an Ice Beam towards an incoming Toucannon, freezing it on contact. Jolteon was being cut off by the speed of the birds, but Sylveon managed to knock them down with Dazzling Gleam as Jolteon finished them off with Thunderbolt. Umbreon was taking some hits from the birds, while Espeon and Leafeon were taking care of some rock types that were coming in to help. From a large distance away, an Aerodactyl was watching the battle.

"Hmph… It seems I had underestimated this Eevee Force, they are doing quite well against my army. No matter, I suppose I did want to get my claws dirty myself…" Aerodactyl swooped down, and immediately set his sights on Flareon, who was fighting a Swellow. As Flareon knocked it away, he couldn't turn around in time and he was smacked in the face by a Wing Attack. Flareon was thrown aside and he landed on the ground hard.

"Augh… Who are-" Flareon was interrupted as Aerodactyl smacked him with Take Down and he flew across the battlefield once again, skidding across the ground. Even in just a few hits, Flareon was already struggling to get up. "Geez… You aren't kidding around…"

Aerodactyl looked at him and smirked. "Ah yes, it seems not even you can manage to defeat me, so you really aren't worth my time." Aerodactyl looked over at Vaporeon, who was shooting Hydro Pumps and taking down most of the birds in the sky. "She, however, seems to be a major problem for my men. She won't be once I take her out for good!" Aerodactyl glowed with a brown energy as a collection of rocks began to fall down the slope and head right towards Vaporeon. Flareon reacted to this and began running towards Vaporeon, trying to go warn her.

Vaporeon just took out another Mandibuzz, and she was obviously tired. She heard a noise and looked to her right, noticing the Rock Slide fall towards her. It was almost on her, and she was going to be hit, but Flareon tackled her out of the way. She landed on the ground and couldn't do anything as the attack hit Flareon for super effective damage, taking him off the flat area and down the mountain, into the forest. "Wait, no, Flareon!" was all Vaporeon could say as he was taken away.

All the other Eeveelutions looked over in shock, dropping their fights as they watched their leader get taken down the mountain in the attack. Glaceon was the first to react. "FLAREOOOOON!"

Espeon spoke up quickly. "Everyone, we must retreat. Now! We can't win this fight…" The Eeveelutions began to run away, staying away from the birds as they retreated. Aerodactyl looked at this display with a wide smirk.

"I hope you all learned your lesson… Don't mess with my town ever again, or you're going to end up just like your friend." He said to himself as he flew back into the town.

 **End of Chapter 14**

 **Hey guys, sorry for the long wait, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'll hopefully start updating this more, but I can't promise anything. Anyways, if there's anything you want to say to me, whether it be advice or just a positive message, feel free to review, anything helps! Anyways, this is Duffle signing off. Deuces!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey, everybody! Duffle back with another chapter of Tales of an Eevee Pack. Don't get used to these quick uploads, I probably won't be able to keep it up until Christmas Break, but I'm gonna try my best to get these chapters out with speed and quality. Either way, enough talking, let's hop right in!**

Chapter 15: The Struggle to Survive

The Eeveelutions had to make sure that they were a safe distance away from the town before stopping and regaining their breath. A deafening silence hovered over the group as they sat there in rest, but Glaceon was obviously bothered. Eventually, she couldn't contain herself anymore and stood up, snapping at Vaporeon.

"Vaporeon, what were you _thinking_?! Was that your idea of a plan?!" Glaceon was very angry right now, and it showed in her voice.

"Wha- Glaceon, how was I supposed to know that was going to happen? I was just taking action!" Vaporeon snapped back at Glaceon.

"We weren't even supposed to fight at all! Flareon was going to deal with it himself, but then you hopped in and messed everything up! And now because of you, not only did we lose the battle, but Flareon is _dead_ and it's all your fault!" Glaceon was seething as another deafening silence hovered over the group.

Sylveon decided that now was a good time to speak up. "Glaceon, I know you're angry, but you mustn't take it out on each other… Flareon might just be alive, I know he's tough enough to do it."

Glaceon was crying at this point. She sniffed and wiped some tears off of her face as she looked over at Sylveon. "Y-Yeah, I suppose you're right… We need to go look for him."

Espeon stepped in, with some good news for a change. "Actually, there is some faint Green Shard energy around the area in which Flareon fell. I think there's a good chance that Flareon is still alive, but he's very injured if that is him."

Jolteon got ready to run. "Alright then, let's do this! Don't worry buddy, I'm comin for ya!"

"Hold it." Espeon cut off Jolteon. "You and Vaporeon stay here, the rest of you go ahead. I need to talk to them."

The rest of the Eeveelutions raised an eyebrow at this, but they decided to move along anyways. Vaporeon and Jolteon sat in front of Espeon with impatient looks on their faces.

"Alright, what is it, Espeon? Don't waste my time, we've got things to do and people to find." Vaporeon said.

Espeon sighed. "This is exactly what I called you over for. You two have been rushing into battle without a plan far too often. I was going to ignore it as it seems that it ended up okay in the end, but this just almost ended up with Flareon _dying_. Both of you have been endangering the group recently and it's time for you to stop. I am well aware that you wish to do things your way, but you must think about the best interests of the group in these kinds of situations, or else we are going to end up failing in the end."

Vaporeon scowled. "Come on, Espeon. It was just a simple mistake, it won't happen again. I have more self-control than that…"

Espeon glared at Vaporeon. "You'd better have more self-control than that, or else I am worried about your stability. You had no right to do what you did, but yet you did it anyways, because you 'took matters into your own hands', correct? Stop doing that. We are all here because we're supposed to work as a group, not to all be separate and do their own thing. That battle we just had was the toughest one we've had the entire journey, and we're not going to straight up overpower them, we need strategy to take them out. So next time, do us all a favor and please just listen to the plan and follow it, or else we're not going to have very much patience to deal with you in the future."

Jolteon cringed at the long winded insult that Espeon just gave. "Geez… C'mon, Espeon, cut her some slack. She just made one mistake and now you're all over her…"

Espeon shifted her gaze over to Jolteon. "This all goes double for you, Jolteon. Vaporeon has been following in your footsteps lately, and you're being an awful influence on her. You're at the end of your rope, so you better dial it back or there's gonna be some serious punishment coming from all of us. I know you get excited from fighting, but you can get excited without rushing in and getting all of us killed." Espeon looked at both of them. "I don't want to have this conversation ever again. Think about what I said and then you can make a decision from there."

Espeon walked away from the two and started following the pack down the slope, beginning the search for Flareon. Jolteon and Glaceon both sat there in shock as they watched Espeon walk away from them.

"Who does she think she is?" Jolteon asked. "We were doing just fine until that Aerodactyl showed up, we just need to be prepared next time. Right, Vaporeon?"

Vaporeon bit her lip. "Jolteon, Espeon's right… We can't just rush in and take them out anymore. The only reason I'm still standing here right now is because Flareon took the hit for me… All of this was my fault, and I plan to fix it." Vaporeon turned her gaze over to Jolteon. "We need to go search for Flareon and apologize, and then make sure that this never happens again." Vaporeon turned away and began to follow the group as well.

Jolteon just sat there with an annoyed look on his face. "Aw, come on! Really, that's it? Our plans never failed until now…" Jolteon shook his head and walked down the mountain trail, following the other Eeveelutions down to the villages that circled the mountain.

* * *

Down at the villages, a Venusaur and a Bulbasaur were walking through the forest. They had heard a commotion earlier and wished to go investigate, and they ended up standing in front of a pile of rocks. The Bulbasaur looked over to the Venusaur.

"Father, why is there a stream of rocks here? Could there have been a landslide that caused this?"

The Venusaur looked closer at the rocks, deep in thought. Eventually, he shook his head. "I highly doubt it. If you look at the texture of the rocks, they look hand crafted. The shape of them seems to be made to cause damage, as you can see from their pointed edges. I don't doubt this is a Rock Slide attack."

"But why would there be a Rock Slide? Was there an attack from the rebellion that we didn't know about?"

"There shouldn't have been. I specifically said to them that we would not make an attack on the town, because we aren't nearly prepared enough to deal with their forces, and failure means that-" Venusaur was interrupted as one of the rocks on the rock slide rustled a little bit, causing it to fall. Venusaur looked shocked. "There's someone alive under there?!"

Bulbasaur looked shocked as well, before she went over and started digging up rocks. Venusaur walked over and started helping too, throwing rocks away from the cluster. Eventually, they found the body of a Flareon under the rocks, and one in awful condition.

"F-Father… This Flareon…"

Venusaur looked grim. "We need to get him immediate medical attention. Go back to the village and prepare a doctor for this Flareon, now!"

Bulbasaur nodded and ran back, as Venusaur picked up the Flareon and started carrying back to the village.

* * *

The Eevee Group walked in complete silence as they went down, with the exception of Glaceon's sniveling. Sylveon was trying to cheer up Glaceon as they went down the mountain.

"Sweetie, it's gonna be alright, he's gonna be fine…." Sylveon started petting Glaceon on the back to try and calm her down.

Glaceon just kept sniveling. "B-But h-he _sniff_ got hit _sniff_ directly _sniff_ and f-fell down _sniff_ the mountain!" Glaceon looked like an absolute wreck.

And to be fair, she was. Of all the people that this event had affected, she was the one who took it the hardest. Even though she had Sylveon reassuring her the entire time, she couldn't help but keep crying through the entire walk. Even Leafeon couldn't cheer her up, she was just so far down the rabbit hole. Leafeon walked over to Sylveon.

"Sylveon, I'm really worried about Glace… She hasn't stopped crying, and we're almost down the mountain." Leafeon whispered.

Sylveon closed her eyes and frowned. "She's very worried about him. As much as I don't want to admit it, there is a very good chance that Flareon is dead right now, and I can sense the amount of regret and sorrow that is clouding her mind right now. I think we should just leave her alone for now, we haven't been helping very much at all."

Leafeon looked sorrowful. "I… Alright." Leafeon turned to Espeon. "So, where are we headed?"

Espeon closed her eyes. "If I'm correct, there should be 3 villages lining the bottom of the mountain in the region where Flareon was hit. One of them is the Forest Village, which is littered with Grass and Bug types. The second is a plains area, which has a wide variety of Pokemon, but is mostly dominated by Normal and Fighting types. However, the one we're going to is the third village, which is built around an indent in the mountain itself. It was home to many rock types, but a large pack of electric types migrated here for unknown reasons. They came here for the powerful electric current that this mountain gives off, but the reason for why they left their home in the first place is unknown. Regardless, we need to be careful here. This village is particular is known for its civil wars amongst the Electric and Rock types. That sounds like it wouldn't be a problem, but the Electric types have developed their own technology in order to give them the ability to always have Hidden Power Ice. We must proceed with caution, and we can't stay long. Am I clear on that?"

Vaporeon, who was listening in, nodded. "Crystal."

Espeon gave her a glare. "Vaporeon, don't you dare start a fight here. The consequences of a fight here could be enormous, to the point where we might not even make it out alive. We're basically entering a war zone, so I want all of you to behave yourselves and act like civilized travellers. Got it?"

Vaporeon shifted awkwardly, almost as if she was scared of Espeon. "Y-Yeah, I got it. I won't start anything with the villagers."

Espeon looked over at Jolteon. "That goes double for you. Don't ask about their technology, don't challenge them to a race, don't even _speak_ unless someone from the village addresses you."

Vaporeon and Jolteon were taken aback from the sudden change in tone that Espeon had from previously, so they just nodded quickly and turned away. Espeon sighed and continued walking on the path.

 _What was that all about? You seem very on edge._ Umbreon thought.

 _You have no idea. I hate being the team leader, you already know this. I'm now responsible for everything that happens in this group, and I can't handle this kind of pressure._ Espeon started shaking. _I have no idea how Flareon does this, it's so nerve-wracking._

 _You're worrying about it too much. Jolteon and Vaporeon are the only ones that need to be worried about, but we can handle them. Just focus on how you're gonna talk with the villagers and then we can go from there._

Espeon sighed. _Thanks, Umbreon. You always know how to calm me down when I'm stressed._

 _I know. I can always tell when you're freaking out, you always have jittery moments where you just can't sit still, and you kinda grit your teeth when you get frustrated._ Umbreon shrugged. _Just a little something I noticed._

 _Well… you're right. Maybe I should start changing my habits if I wanna keep things a secret from you, hehe._ Espeon giggled. Umbreon smiled back and the two continued on their way down the path.

* * *

Flareon didn't really know what happened. One second he was pushing Vaporeon out of the way and now he was… wherever he was. He tried to move, but an intense surge of pain went through his body as he did.

 _Okay, that's not a good idea. Can I open my eyes? I need to know where I am._

Flareon slowly opened up his eyes and looked around to the best of his abilities. It looked like… a small hut. He was on a makeshift cot, and he saw other injured Pokemon besides him.

 _I must be in a healing ward… But how? I should've died from that attack, especially since it took me down the mountain… There should've been no way I could've survived that attack…_

Flareon was taken out of his thoughts when a Bulbasaur walked into the room. She saw that Flareon had opened his eyes and bounded over to him.

"Oh my gosh, you're actually alive! We were actually pretty worried for a while there, we thought you were a goner!" She had an incredibly bright smile on her face.

Flareon looked over at the newcomer and grunted. "W-What… Where am I?"

"You're in the forest village, at the bottom of the mountain! You took a pretty long fall from that Rock Slide attack, but it looks like you're gonna be alright! Here, drink this." The Bulbasaur went over and got a blue mixture, beginning to dump it into Flareon's mouth. He drank it all up, realizing his energy was slowly returning to him.

"Wow… Thank you, I feel a lot better now." Flareon rolled out of the cot and stood up. There was a little bit of pain, but the pain was numbing and didn't really bother him that much. He started walking around a little bit before the Bulbasaur talked again.

"So… What were you doing on the Summit? Were you tryna get into the town?" Bulbasaur asked.

Flareon just shook his head at the question. "I can't say. All I can say is that my mission is very important and I can't afford to fail it. Is there a way that I can get into the town without having to go through the guards?"

"You're not going to get in there at all, unfortunately." Venusaur walked into the room and Bulbasaur smiled.

"Hey Dad, the Flareon recovered! Isn't it great?" Bulbasaur smiled widely.

"Yes, it's wonderful, but could you please leave for a minute? This Flareon and I need to speak privately."

Bulbasaur noticed Venusaur's serious expression and nodded, leaving the room and going outside. Venusaur looked at Flareon with a grim expression.

"Alakazam told me you'd be here. He told me you would try to get into the summit town for some information on the Green Orb shard, but he did not tell me that you would engage the town in a battle, and especially not that they would deploy that damned Aerodactyl. Why did you begin a fight on the Summit?!"

Flareon sighed. "Unfortunately, that was not a part of the plan. One of my friends engaged the enemy forces when they refused to give us access to the town, and so we were forced into a fight. That Aerodactyl took me out, and that's how I ended up down here. I just hope the rest of my Pack is okay…"

Venusaur thought about it for a second. "I see. In that case, I believe your friends will most likely end up at the Cave Village that's in the Mountain Crevice. If your friend is as quick to action as you say, that might be a problem…"

Flareon looked worried. "Why? Is there a problem there?"

"That place is well known for constant civil wars ever since a large number of Electric Types had migrated to the area. In addition, those Electric types seem to be sided with Aerodactyl in the affairs plaguing us in the area recently, so if your friends are noticed by them, it might spell trouble for everyone."

Flareon closed his eyes. "Alright, thank you for informing me. I'll leave for there immediately and warn them of the situation."

Flareon was about to leave the ward before Venusaur interjected. "Hold on, you're not going anywhere."

Flareon looked back. "What? And why not?"

"You're coming with me to the next village meeting. If you want access to the Summit Town, you're going to need our help, whether you like it or not."

"But why do you want to help me invade that town? Isn't it the capital of this area?!" Flareon was very confused.

"I'll show you why we're going to help you get into the Summit Town." Venusaur motioned for Flareon to follow him outside. However… Flareon was not prepared for what he saw.

"No… No, this isn't real. What is this?!" Flareon frantically looked around and saw… statues. Statues of Pokemon, seemingly frozen in place as they were littered across the village.

"This is a product of the alliance between the Electric types and the Summit Village. We recently tried to revolt against the Summit Village because they had been taxing us incredibly hard lately. Their response was an attack on us… By turning our villagers into statues with their new technology. None of us were prepared for their attack, and there was no way to combat it. We surrendered before a full day even passed." Venusaur looked at Flareon. "That's why we need your help. We need you and your friends to help us take down the Summit Village to not only help you guys out, but to also help us. We have an entire army ready to fight…"

Flareon bit his lip. He didn't think this was a good idea, as it could very easily cause everyone to end up dead or frozen, but he didn't exactly have a choice…

"Alright, fine. Let's do this. The Summit Village will fall within the week."

 **End of Chapter 15**

 **Alright, thanks for reading this chapter! I tried to make it a bit longer to give you guys more to read, so I hope you enjoy! Don't forget to leave a review to show me what you think, and have a nice day!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hello, everyone! Duffle here with another chapter of Tales of an Eevee Pack! Sorry for the lack of uploads recently, things have been real crazy in my life and I haven't had the time to upload, so I won't keep you waiting any longer. Let's get into the chapter!**

Chapter 16: Civil Wars are Never Civil

The Eevee Group approached the village as they finally got down the mountain spiral. Tucked in a crevice in the mountain, this village's location was very advantageous. You could see both the Grass and Plains Villages from here, making it an excellent place to look over both villages. It was very clear that there were two factions in this village, with one side being inside the mountain and being home to many rock and ground types, while the other side was more in the open and had the Electric and Flying types. The pressure of electricity coursed through the entire area, being supported by the strong magnetic field being produced by the metals within the mountains.

Espeon was the first to walk into the village, and after she took a quick look around, she knew this was a mistake. "Guys… We have a problem…"

Statues of rock and ground type Pokemon were scattered across the town. You couldn't go anywhere on their side of the village without seeing their shocked or horrified expressions on their statues. It was incredibly unsettling, and an aura of fear hovered over the entire group as they walked through.

Leafeon was shivering. "Oh gosh… T-This is bad…."

"This… I can feel the fear emanating from these statues… These things were _alive_ at one point…" Sylveon started to shiver.

While the group was distracted with the statues, a group of Electric Type Pokemon were looking at them from the distance. They were varied in species, and seemed to be speaking through some sort of communicator.

" _I want those Eeveelutions out of the picture before they become a problem, do you hear me? You have the tools to do so, use them!_ "

The leader of this group, seemingly being the Luxray, nodded. "Understood, sir. They won't be moving within the hour." The Luxray clicked his headpiece and jumped out of hiding with his crew and fired a Thunderbolt at the group. They covered their eyes as the blast landed in-between all of them.

"Augh! What the hell?!" Jolteon looked over and saw the Luxray, with a Raichu, Manectric, and Ampharos backing him up.

"So you're the Eevee Pack that Aerodactyl told us about? Heh, you don't seem too tough. What d'you say we have a little battle before we take you out?" Luxray grinned, showing off his fangs to the group.

Jolteon got into a fighting position and smirked. "That's fine by me. I'll even let you take the first shot!"

Espeon hit him on the shoulder, looking exasperated. "Jolteon, no! We can't afford to start a fight here, we have to retreat!"

Vaporeon shook her head and blasted the ground the Electric Types were on with Hydro Pump. "Sorry sweetie, but they started the fight, so I'm gonna roll with it and fight them! That's the code of a fighter, you must always fight when challenged!" Vaporeon ran towards the Ampharos and engaged him, while Jolteon started fighting the Luxray. The Manectric and Raichu came to the other 5, but they were knocked away by a Rock Slide attack. Espeon looked back and saw a Nosepass, Graveler, and Boldore behind them.

"Lady Espeon, we know about your mission, please retreat to the Grass Village! We can take care of these Electric types!" Graveler boomed as he said this, rolling into battle.

Espeon nodded and turned to the other 4. "Guys, they're right, we can't afford to have a battle here, we risk the enemy bringing in reinforcements to come take us out! We must retreat immediately!"

Vaporeon was knocked away but shook her head. "I refuse! If we're already in the fight, I'm not going to retreat! We can take care of this!" Vaporeon used Surf on the Ampharos and blasted it into one of the houses. As she did this, Luxray got up after one of his attacks.

" _Luxray, you have a perfect shot of Vaporeon here. Fire the laser._ "

Luxray nodded and his headgear started to glow a strange color. This color culminated inside of Luxray's mouth before he blasted it straight at Vaporeon. She had no time to react before this beam hit her directly. That face of shock stayed there… as she was turned into stone. Espeon looked on in shock, but it quickly wore off as she hurried the others down the path. Espeon turned to Jolteon. "JOLTEON, WE NEED TO LEAVE NOW!"

But it was too late. Another beam was already fired and it was a direct hit. Jolteon was now immortalized as a statue. Espeon cringed and turned away, running down the path. However, much to her shock, Glaceon started running the other way. "Wha- Glaceon, what're you doing?!"

Glaceon yelled the loudest she ever had. "I'M GONNA GO DOWN THE EXACT SAME WAY FLAREON WOULD!" Espeon turned away. She heard the whir of the headgear, and didn't even bother to look on, as she knew exactly what had happened. The group was down to 4 members.

* * *

As Flareon walked alongside Venusaur, he couldn't help but have a terrible feeling in his gut. Ever since the battle with the Aerodactyl, he's been having strange lapses in his ability to control himself, as if he were going to snap at any moment. Venusaur could tell that he was on edge and decided to address the issue.

"Flareon, I've noticed that you've been quite shaken ever since we started walking towards the Meeting. Are you feeling alright?"

Flareon sighed. "Yeah, it's just that… I'm worried about my friends. It's not that I don't have trust in them, but I like having my eyes on them at all times, to make sure they're alright. Not knowing what's going on with them makes me incredibly worried…"

Venusaur chuckled. "No worries, my fluffy friend. Alakazam has told me that they're strong in their own right, I'm sure that they will be able to overcome the challenges that will come their way. After all, they're on your level correct?"

Flareon gulped and nodded as the two of them finally came onto a hill and looked over the Plains. As Flareon looked over, he couldn't believe what he saw. He saw… Pokemon of all types and sizes running around, having a great time. Playing games, smiling, laughing… It was hard to believe this area was at war. There were no statues or anything!

"What in… This place looks so happy, so peaceful… It's hard to imagine that this place is at war. Shouldn't this place be littered with statues like the Forest Village?" Flareon looked over at Venusaur with a look of confusion, while he gave him a solemn look and head shake.

"They are, but they're trying to maintain their image of peace. All the statues of those who have been attacked were moved away. This is supposed to be a neutral ground for all those who want time to relax, but even they were not safe. Because of that, the Village Elder and I have tried our hardest to make this place one of peace, which is why it's the safest place to hold the meeting."

Flareon nodded and followed Venusaur into the hut where they said they were meeting. As Flareon walked in, he looked around to see a wide variety of types sitting at a table. He saw what looked like a place for Venusaur, a Machamp, a Magmortar, an Empoleon, and… a Golisopod?!

The Golisopod seemed to recognize Flareon right away. He sneered at him and used an aggressive tone when talking to him. " **You…"**

Flareon seemed a little intimidated by the look that Golisopod was giving him, as he gulped and sat down at the table. He glanced over to Golisopod who was glaring daggers at Flareon, and Flareon quickly turned his attention away. Luckily, the meeting was about to start as Venusaur cleared his throat.

 _Ahem_ "Now then, everyone, I'd like to thank you for coming to this meeting. I'm sure all of us are aware of the issues that have been plaguing our land, as the taxes that we have been struck with are crippling the innocent people of this town. Not only that, but it seems that the village on top of the mountain has also been working with the enemy that has caused great terror throughout the land."

Flareon reacted to that last statement as he thought to himself. _Great terror throughout the land…?_

Venusaur continued his speech. "It is because of this that I have gathered you all here. All of the base villages, along with our special guest who has come from the swamps of the bugs, are ready to fight against this threat and try to take control over our destinies once more. Also, we have brought our guest, Flareon, in a mutual agreement with us, has decided to help in exchange for information on how to defeat his own enemy. We should expect some powerful reinforcements as his Pack comes down the mountain to join back up with him. Now, does anyone have any questions?"

The Golisopod immediately raised his hand. Venusaur nodded and Golisopod stood up. "It might not be in place for me to say this, and I apologize if I seem rude, but I don't think Flareon and his Pack should not join us in this fight."

Flareon turned to the Golisopod with a shocked expression while the others gave him a sideways look. Machamp was the first to step up and counter Golisopod's point. "Are you crazy?! Are you telling me that you'd willing force those who are offering help to us away? There'd better be a good explanation for this…"

Golisopod seemed annoyed. "Think about it, this guy fell down from the mountain and he immediately integrates into our army? Did it never occur to you all that he and his group may be spies?"

Venusaur stamped his arm onto the ground. "That is enough! Flareon and his group is a group of trusted fighters who have been working to save the world, and a close friend of mine has confirmed this fact himself, so I will not allow this type of slander to continue!"

Golisopod merely nodded and sat back down as Magmortar leaned over to Flareon and started whispering to him. "Venusaur must have a lot of faith in you… I've never seen that much emotion from that old coot in a long time."

Flareon chuckled and turned his attention over to Golisopod, who seemed on edge. _Do I… Know her? What does she have against me and my group? Did I do something wrong?_

Venusaur cleared his throat once more and addressed the rest of group. "Now then, I believe it's time to make a plan of attack. Golisopod, I want your group to take care of the Electric types in the Crevice. Your squad is going to have the best chance, as your small size can easily dodge the lasers and take out their Electric attacks. Empoleon, I want your squad to go up to the Summit and do a frontal assault on the rock types guarding the area. I'll give you half of my squad to give you a better chance at dealing with it. Machamp, I want you and your squad to surround the perimeter and make sure reinforcements don't arrive, as we're not going to be able to cover our backs once we're in town. The rest of you, which includes the rest of my squad, Magmortar's squad, and Flareon's Pack will go into the town and charge the castle. No matter what, everyone must beware the Aerodactyl that is guarding the town. That Pokemon will get extremely nasty, and is way more powerful than you could imagine, so don't try to do anything foolish. We're going to win this battle through numbers, so we must stick together. All in favor?"

"Aye!" said the entire group, as they excitedly rose out of where they were sitting. Flareon was still stuck in thought as he sat there, contemplating the battle that had taken place on the Summit.

 _Aerodactyl… You're a fearsome opponent. It's like I can still feel your presence, even when you're not even here…_

Machamp noticed that Flareon was stuck in thought, so he decided to walk over and have a chat. "Flareon, was it? It's good to see you! Everyone on our side is a friend of mine, good sir!"

Flareon blinked and left his own thoughts, glancing over at Machamp. "Oh… Hi, good to see you, too."

"What seems to be troubling you? You look mighty troubled about something!" Machamp looked at Flareon with a concerned expression.

Flareon bit his lip. "It's about Aerodactyl… the one at the top of the Summit. When my Pack and I engaged in battle… His strength was incredible. I don't know how he did it, but he managed to put himself on a level that's so far out of my reach that I couldn't even imagine…"

Machamp scratched his chin. "Yes… He does seem to be a formidable foe, but worry not! With my Flashing Fists of Justice, I shall destroy this adversary and save the great Village of the Plains! Gwahaha!"

Flareon blinked before starting to chuckle. This guy was a total superhero! He kind of… liked it, if he was being honest. But that moment was not very long, as a few figures entered the Hut. Flareon turned over and looked in shock as Espeon, Umbreon, Leafeon, and Sylveon entered the hut. He smiled and ran over to them.

"Guys! You're safe!" Flareon was ecstatic to see them, and Espeon looked at him with a baffled expression.

"Wha- Flareon? You're alive?!" Espeon stared at him wide-eyed as Flareon nodded his head.

"Hehe, yup! No lousy landslide is gonna take me down that easily!" Flareon looked between the group. "Wait, are you the only 4 here? Where's the other 3?"

Everyone's expression darkened, with nobody willing to respond to Flareon. Flareon's expression also fell, turning into one of malice instead of the joyful one he had a minute ago.

" **Where is Glaceon"** Flareon said, in a voice that did not seem close to his own at all. Espeon could sense that, but she decided that she'd have to step up and take the blow.

"Flareon, I'm sorry to tell you, but she… She…" Espeon gulped and looked down. "She got turned into a statue…"

Flareon's expression turned into one of shock as he felt his heart shatter. His entire mind was filled with conflicting thoughts as a wave of sorrow overcame him, but that sorrow was quickly turned into one of hatred. Hatred that was boiling throughout his whole body, so much so that he even started to glow.

 _Yes… Yes…. Good! Feel the hate in your heart, feel it release out in full force! SET ME FREE WITH YOUR HATRED!_

Flareon let out a loud scream as his entire body flashed in a blinding light, morphing into what seemed like a new shape entirely. As the light died down, Flareon's physique wasn't very different, but it was larger and more muscular, along with his eyes being much darker. He also had a strange mark on his forehead that no one seemed to recognize, and this "new Flareon" began to chuckle.

"Hereeeeee's Johnny!" The new being said as he started to laugh like crazy.

 **End of Chapter 16**

 **Whoo boy, that was a long time coming! Sorry for not updating in a while, I've been slammed with work recently and I've just now gotten the time to finally work on this. Anyways, if you liked the chapter leave a review, yatta yatta you know all that stuff. I'll try to be consistent with chapters going forward, but it'll be tough with my schedule. See you guys then!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello everyone! DuffleGamer back with another chapter of Tales of an Eevee Pack! To make up for the recent lacks of chapters, I'm gonna try to get this up on the same weekend as Chapter 16, but if it doesn't, then it looks like I need some more catching up to do! Anyways, I don't wanna stall you guys any longer, let's hop right into the chapter!**

Chapter 17: To The Dark Side?!

This… new version of Flareon just stood there, laughing maniacally. His forehead still flashed the odd insignia, and everyone in the room didn't dare speak out about this new person. He looked around at those paralyzed in a mix of shock and fear as the new, commanding figure stood amongst them. A terrifying grin filled with fangs was bared as the new figure laughed.

"Come on, is that any way to greet someone new? I thought you people would have more manners than that!" The new being merely continued his laughing as the others shifted awkwardly.

Leafeon was the first one to approach the figure and say something. "Look buddy, I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you better explain to me what you did with Flareon or so help me Arceus I will destroy you!" Leafeon was getting fired up now, and the figure merely sneered at her.

"Y'know, people usually ask my name before they start making death threats, sweetheart; it's the least they could do." The Flareon growled at Leafeon.

Leafeon looked like she was about to start a fight, but Sylveon pushed her back with one of her ribbons. She walked up to the new Flareon and coughed, before putting on a smile. "Now darling, there's no need to be rude, we'd all _love_ to learn more about you… We're all just concerned about what happened to our friend, whose body you're currently inhabiting. But, if you're here, we should integrate you into our group, so would you mind telling us a little bit about yourself?"

The Flareon chuckled and closed his eyes. "Alright, I suppose that's not too bad of a choice. Like all of you, I don't have a name outside of my species, but I suppose you can all just call me 'Melvin'."

Espeon looked at him and gave him a confused expression. "I don't understand why you'd be called that…"

"Nobody does, it isn't funny. Now then, with that out of the way, I don't really have much to tell the rest of you that would benefit you, but what I am here to explain is that I'm going to help you take down the army at the top of the Summit, and I can tell you that I'm much more qualified to lead you than the other soul that inhabits this body."

Venusaur stepped in. "Now you just hold on one second there. How in the wide world are we going to trust you? You just pop up in the body of one of our friends and start demanding that you lead the group? I'm not buying it."

Melvin chuckled and turned towards Venusaur. "You old coot, don't you get it? I was born out of Flareon's extreme anger, so of course he and I are one and the same. And, unlike my soft, furry friend, I actually have some information on the inner workings of the Summit."

There was a collective gasp that rippled throughout the building as Melvin dropped that bomb of an announcement.

Golisopod stamped over to the area where Melvin stood. "What?! Are you seriously telling me that you have information on the layout of the city? How is that even possible?!"

Melvin grinned. "Well, let's just say that my life before all this started was a little less than glamorous, hehe… At least for you people. But in reality, I know the ins and outs of the entire city, so if you want your plan to be a success, you better listen to me and the information I have for you."

A wave of unease could be felt through everyone, but Machamp stepped up and puts his arms on his hips. "Aha! Worry not, dear friends, I believe that we can trust this good fellow! After all, even if that insignia does look strange, he seems to be a man of good intentions! Now then, why don't we discuss the inner workings of the Summit so that we may properly plan our attack?"

"Why yes, I do agree, but I think the Peanut Gallery should leave.." Melvin put on a twisted grin as he looked over at the rest of the Pack. "They don't need to hear this, and I'd rather they just listen to my command, is that alright?"

Venusaur sighed and looked at them. He was about to explain why he wanted them to go out, but Espeon understood and merely nodded. "Fine. We'll get out of your way, but I expect a proper breakdown of the plan when you get back here, _Melvin_."Espeon glared at him as she and the other 3 left the hut.

Umbreon nudged Espeon as they left, with a look of concern on his face. _Espeon, can we really trust this guy? He claims that he's a second part of Flareon's personality, but he was born from his anger. Surely that must mean that he's either evil or unstable, correct?_

Espeon shook her head. _We can't trust him, that's for sure. I was reading his mind, and it was the weirdest thing. It's like his head was split in half, and one half was completely dark, almost blotted out by the other side. I don't know what that means, but that definitely can't be a good thing._

 _That sounds very troublesome. I don't know what it could be, but that sounds like something we should warn the others about, right?_

Espeon shook her head. _No, we shouldn't tell the others, that'll just cause more confusion and fear. We've already lost a good number of our members to the enemy, and what we need right now is a central point of leadership. And as much as I hate to admit it, this Melvin creep might just be our best bet to both reunite our group and to properly infiltrate the Summit Village may be to just trust this guy. After all, he is the only one with any knowledge about the inner workings of that if we're to believe him._

 _...Alright, I trust your judgement, but we should keep a close on him, because he seems like the type that would betray us at any moment._

Espeon nodded and continued moving on. Leafeon and Sylveon, however, were having their own conversation about the situation at hand.

"Leafeon, hun, what was that back there? You completely snapped at Melvin back there! I know he's our friend, but I didn't know you cared about Flareon that much.."

Leafeon rolled her eyes. "Sylveon, I don't like him, if that's what you're trying to imply. Glaceon and I are best friends, so of course I'm gonna have to look after the guy that she likes, that's the promise that I made to her. If someone messes with either of them, they mess with me, got it?" Leafeon had a stone cold look on her face as Sylveon merely giggled.

"Wow, you've sure come a long way on this journey, haven't you?~ You went from a small, ecstatic girl to one who's serious and willing to die for her friends. I must say, Leaf, I'm really impressed."

Leafeon blushed and awkwardly giggled. "Hehe, well, you know me Sylv, I've gotta look the best for my friends~"

The two of them giggled as they walked around, trying to find a place to stay.

* * *

"...And we'll march there with our armies tomorrow morning. For now, all of you should get some rest, tomorrow's going to change the entire tide of our villages' future, for better or for worse." Venusaur explained to them all as they nodded and headed out. All except for Melvin, who decided to stick around for a little while longer.

"Well well, you've got the information out of me, now where's my payment?" Melvin smirked.

Venusaur looked over at him with a look of disgust. "You expect payment? For something that benefits both of us?!"

"Well well, no need to get aggressive, just think of it this way. Without me, your entire army would just be easy pickings for those flying type soldiers, would they not? Obviously you needed my extremely valuable in order to cover for them, so I deserve some sort of payment for saving the lives of essentially your entire army…" Melvin smirked and looked at Venusaur.

Venusaur merely turned and walked away. "You will get no payment. Your other half wouldn't expect anything, because he's fighting for what he cares about. Why don't you follow in his footsteps and realize that you wouldn't have even given the information if it wasn't for him?" Venusaur exited the hut, leaving Melvin to sneer as the plant creature left.

"Senile old fool! You don't even realize, do you? I OWN THIS BODY!" Melvin flipped over his chair in his rage and stormed out of the hut. As he did, a certain Pokemon was watching him as he left, taking notes. The Pokemon soon left and headed back to their home, trying to fit in a little bit of relaxation before the next day came.

* * *

As the next morning came, it seemed that the armies were filled with a new wave of confidence as they marched up the mountain. They were about to engage the enemy, and it seems that their spirits had never been higher. Venusaur turned to Melvin and began talking to him. "Alright Melvin, we're going to engage the main forces and go through the main gate. What I want you to do is to start some chaos in the town with the rest of the Eevee Pack. Go into the opening in the wall that you explained to me and go straight to the castle, causing any amount of destruction as possible along the way. Am I clear on that?"

Melvin laughed. "Oh my, it seems even the Old Coot can be quite devious when it comes to war, eh? Are you telling me that you're giving me permission to harm the innocent townspeople to further your own goals?"

Venusaur glared at Melvin. "Do not make me regret putting you in this position, Melvin. You know exactly what I need you to do, and I _expect_ you to do!"

Melvin just rolled his eyes. "You're all so _boring,_ like _geez._ Have a little fun with this, why dontcha? It's a fight, be happy!" Melvin licked his lips. "I myself can't wait for the chance to knock some heads in the castle, ehehe…"

Venusaur cringed and turned away. _I can't believe our entire plan hinges on him staying on our side, but hopefully the rest of the Pack can keep him in check…_

Melvin took this as an opportunity to start putting the plan into action, so he took an alternate route and guided his team over to the crevice in the wall. "Alright, let's all go have some fun and create lots of chaos for the townsfolk! Ahahaha!"

Leafeon growled and stepped up to Melvin. "Listen here, tough guy, we're going in there to take out the government that has been harassing the lower villages, we have no business with the villagers of this place, so leave them out of this!"

Melvin chuckled softly, but sinisterly. "Oho… _You_ all might not have any business with the villagers… But I do. Oh boy do I have some _business_ to attend to with these people…"

Espeon narrowed her eyes. "Wait, what? You're just another part of Flareon, right? How could you possibly-"

Melvin was already running off into the town, completely ignoring Espeon. "Sorry folks, but I'm not telling the story! You'll just have to figure it out on your own!"

Leafeon got into a ready position and looked down the path that Melvin ran down. "Guys, we can't let him out of our sight! After him!" Leafeon sprinted down the path to follow him, and she was followed up by the rest of the Pack.

* * *

"My liege, it seems that the armies have already arrived at our front gate, and they are destroying our forces. What shall me do?" A Kabutops kneeled before the throne as he came to give the ruler the news.

"Hmph… No need to worry, my good friend. This is all just a part of the plan. When my spy betrays their group, they shall have nowhere to run, and their forces will be slaughtered. When that is done, we shall all finally be able to live in peace."

"But my liege, there is also rumors of some Eeveelutions running around in our village, causing chaos! What should we do about them?"

The commanding figure chuckled. "Fear not, for I know that they will be coming here. And we have the perfect trap set for them… Bring in the trophies of my success!"

As the figure said that, three Tyranitars carried in one statue each, with the spitting image of a Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Glaceon shown there. The figure began to laugh once more. "And once they approach my castle, and come in to see the statues of their friends, they will have no chance at victory… And my success is essentially secure!"

The figure laughed maniacally as the statues were dragged away.

* * *

As Melvin ran through the streets, he couldn't help but enjoy himself like a little child, running down each path and burning every building to the ground.

"Ahahaha! Yes, that's it, burn! Burn!" Melvin continued his laughter as his destruction started spreading throughout more of the Village. Meanwhile, the rest of them were just now catching up, and they saw the mass destruction that Melvin had caused. The mass look of terror was apparent as they watched the flames spread.

"This… This is horrible… How could Flareon do something like this?" Sylveon looked like she was about to cry, either from the smoke or this new development from Flareon.

Espeon shook her head and stepped up. "That isn't Flareon, guys. Or, at least it isn't him completely. You see, when I was reading his mind, it was pretty clear that half of his mind was completely blotted out, almost as if the other half was controlling it. There was no brain activity whatsoever, and I think that has something to do with his violent behaviors."

"Well if that's the case, then that's all the more reason we need to hurry up and get Glaceon back! You said he was born out of anger, right? Well, maybe if we get Glaceon back and calm him down, he'll turn back to normal, right?" Leafeon got a little heated about this, but Sylveon slowly started to agree.

"Guys, Leafeon is right. We can take out two birds with one stone: Complete the mission _and_ reunite the two lovers! Because there's nothing like your life partner to bring you back to proper spirits~"

Espeon nodded and turned her attention towards the castle. "That's good and all, but we need to get to the castle first, because the other armies can only do so much before we open the path for them. And besides, I'm sure Melvin is gonna get there eventually, so we might as well meet him there. Let's go!" Everyone nodded and started following her.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the village, a mass scale war was raging. Every type imaginable was clashing against each other, throwing each off the mountain side, beating each other to the ground, it was mass chaos. However, despite the odds, it seemed that the Villages of the bottom of the mountain seemed to be winning! Even Aerodactyl himself was having a hard time, as he had to square off against both Venusaur and Machamp. He was smacked away and then hovered in the air for a little bit.

"Gah! Rrgh… I must admit, you two are formidable foes. Unlike the last group I challenged, you indeed have a great knowledge of the battlefield…" Aerodactyl started gritting his teeth, while Machamp just let out a hearty laugh.

"And you seem to have a terrible case of underestimating your opponents! These muscles weren't gained by lounging around, I put in a great deal of work to get where I am today! And with Venusaur at my side, I'm afraid you don't stand a chance! Gwahaha!" Machamp puts his arms to his sides, as was his signature pose. Venusaur couldn't help but smile at him.

"While my good friend has a weird way of putting it, he is right. You and your army cannot win. If you value the lives of your soldiers, you will retreat immediately and give us access to your castle." Venusaur had a grim expression as he explained this.

Aerodactyl couldn't help but growl. "Curses! I refuse to lose to the likes of you… I won't lose! I…" Aerodactyl looked on to the path leading up to the mountain, and his expression slowly turned into a smile. "...I won't lose."

"What're you-" Venusaur turned around and opened his mouth wide in shock. What he saw… was impossible. It had to be! "The Electric types! But how?! That must mean that Golisopod and the other bug types failed! Either that or…"

Venusaur took a closer look and his surprised look was quickly turned to one of disgust. "...We were betrayed…" He quickly turned his attention to the other troops. "Everyone, be careful! The Electric types have come, we've been betrayed! Stay on your gu-" Venusaur couldn't finish his train of thought, as his body was quickly turned into stone. He was now a mere statue in the middle of the battlefield. Machamp was taken aback by shock.

"Venusaur, my partner!" Machamp frantically turned left and right to find a solution, but was smacked by Aerodactyl's Wing Attack and was thrown to the ground. Aerodactyl laughed as the situation was quickly turned in his favor.

"Ahaha! That's right everyone, the reinforcements have arrived! Now fight, fight for your lives!" Aerodactyl had a look of pure insanity on his face as he swooped into battle, ready to kill any poor sucker that got in his way.

 **End of Chapter 17**

 **Alright, managed to get this done within a day of the last one! I guess I can surprise even myself when I work hard enough! Now then, before I sign off, I'd like to start giving some shoutouts at the end of each chapter, and I'd like to start with the person I stole the idea fr- I mean… was inspired by, VGS2 the sexy sausage! They shouted me out in their fanfic, so I suppose it's only right that I return the favor! VGS2 is mostly a Pokemon writer that writes some Smash stuff on the side, but my personal favorite stories are the ones about Lagomorphshipping, so I highly recommend you go check VGS2 out! Anyways, with that out of the way, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'll see you guys next time!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello, everyone! DuffleGamer here with another chapter of Tales of an Eevee pack. Nothing here to report on, so let's just hop in to the next chapter!**

Chapter 18: The End of an Era

The Eevee Pack had finally managed to reach the front of the castle, after taking a bit of a detour to avoid the smoke and fire that Melvin had caused. However, to their surprise, it turns out that Melvin hadn't come to the castle quite yet.

 _Probably causing more chaos…_ Espeon shook her head. _We need to finish this quickly and get back to our main goal… We can focus on Melvin more later._

"Hey, so, Espeon…" Espeon snapped out of her own thoughts and looked over at Leafeon. "How're we supposed to get into the castle? It's not like they're just going to let us in the front gate…"

Espeon closed her eyes and tried to divine the area inside the castle. As she focused, she could imagine the inner layout of the entire castle, from the walls and even outlines of certain people. Eventually, she found the room she was looking for and found a small crevice in said room. She opened her eyes back up and looked at the group. "There's a small crevice in the back of the castle which leads into the control room. That lever should allow us to open up the main gates and allow our army to get into the castle town and come give us support. I wasn't able to see much past that, but we should be able to make the plan as we go from there."

Everyone nodded and followed Espeon as she led her group to the back of the castle.

* * *

Melvin continued his maniacal chuckling as he kept walking through the mass destruction that he had caused. He was having a great time as he burned down every building that he walked past on his way to the castle.

"Gee, it sure is great to have my own body again! And it came with the pre-evolved bundle, how generous! Ahaha- Grk!"

Melvin doubled over as he felt a sharp pain in his head. He grit his teeth and stood back up.

"Augh… Stop that! This isn't your body and it never was! So why don't you be good and stop resisting?!" The pain stopped and Melvin smiled before continuing his walk towards the castle. However, as he did, he heard a loud noise from outside the town. The sound of… cheering, but not of the army that Melvin wanted to win.

"Hm… How bothersome, it looks like the other part of the plan didn't go well…" Melvin shrugged and smiled. "Ah well, no skin off of my back. I'll just take what I need and ditch these suckers once I've looted the castle! And then I won't have to worry about food for a looooong time, hehe."

Melvin's walk turned into a run as he rushed towards the castle.

* * *

Espeon looked around the room, making sure the coast was clear before she ducked through the crevice, motioning for the other 3 to follow. As she got in, she quickly pulled the lever towards the side that had "Open" on it.

"Alright, that should give our army a chance to enter the town and give us some support. For now, we need to find where they're keeping the statues and try to rescue the other 3."

Sylveon smiled and walked to Espeon as she said that. "Wow Esp, you're really doing well as our leader~ You've got this situation all figured out!"

Espeon giggled and blushed a little at the compliment. "Oh, well, you know… Just filling in for Flareon while he's gone…" In truth, Espeon felt pretty happy about how well she was doing. She had completed her part of the plan without any hiccups, and she felt really proud of that. She smiled before walking out of the room and beginning the search for the statue room.

 _Espeon, hold on. I need to talk to you._ Espeon looked back as Umbreon tapped her shoulder and spoke to her.

 _Umbreon? What seems to be the problem?_

 _Don't you think this is all a little… too easy? We've had no opposition this entire time. Wouldn't there be some opposition at the crevices? If Melvin knew about them, surely the people living here would know as well…_

Espeon closed her eyes and thought about that for a second before quickly coming to a realization. A panicked look came across her face as she turned to the rest of the Pack. "Guys, we have a problem. This is a trap."

Leafeon and Sylveon gave a confused look between each other before they looked back at Espeon. Leafeon was the first to speak up. "Espeon, what're you talking about? We've gotten in here completely fine. If there was a trap, surely they would've sprung it before we actually entered the castle, right?"

Espeon shook her head. "No, this is exactly what they wanted us to do. Don't you think it's mighty convenient that Melvin appears the night before the battle in order to lead us to crevices that would separate us from the army? And isn't it very convenient that we managed to get this far into the castle without any opposition whatsoever?"

Sylveon's expression worsened as she took in all this information. She bit her lip and spoke back to Espeon. "Hm… You're right, this all seems a little-" Sylveon looked ahead and noticed some Boldores walking over to them. "Guys, get down!" Sylveon tackled the other 3 Eeveelutions into a room in order to avoid the guards that were walking towards them.

Leafeon grunted as she stood up and brushed herself off. "Whew, thanks Sylveon… That was a close one, but you managed to get us in the clear."

"No, you're not in the clear." The Eeveelutions were surprised as they heard another voice, watching as a Braviary flew down from his perch and looked at the Pack with a serious expression. "In fact, you could not be in more danger than you currently are."

* * *

As the champion army paraded over their victory, their general noticed that the gates to the town were beginning to open wide. The Aerodactyl's expression twisted into a wide grin as he looked on with satisfaction. "Well well… I believe it's time to finish this, once and for all."

"Oh no, I don't think so." Aerodactyl turned over and saw Golisopod walk over to him. "We still haven't gotten our payment for helping you, so you better pay up. _Now_."

Aerodactyl sneered as he looked at the bipedal bug. "You still haven't completed your agreement. We promised that you would be paid _after_ we have completed the entire mission. So you can walk into the castle with me and remove the Eevees, or you can walk away without any payment. Am I clear on this?"

Golisopod growled, but eventually nodded and walked back towards his army. Aerodactyl shook his head and looked towards the castle. "Men, back towards the castle! It's time that we finish this, now!" The army cheered as they rushed into the town.

* * *

Sylveon barely dodged the sharp blades of wind that rushed past her, rolling on the ground before getting back up on her feet and blasting the Braviary with a Dazzling Gleam. The Braviary quickly blew it away with Gust and rushed down at her with Brave Bird, making direct contact as Sylveon was sent flying into a wall.

"Gack!" Sylveon made contact as she fell out of the hole she made, hitting the ground with a loud thud as Espeon stepped up. She used Psychic to pick up some rocks and chuck them at the Braviary, who quickly dodged them.

"Hm… It seems you're a lot weaker than your reputation would suggest… No matter, I suppose I'll just dispose of you all myself!" Braviary started to use Bulk Up, having his physical form drastically increase in size as his Attack and Defense increased. With the new boost, Braviary rushed towards Umbreon and used Crush Claw on him, causing an unpleasant sound as Umbreon reeled in pain.

 _This is not going well… Without our full strength, this guy is just running over us. He's even stronger than Aerodactyl!_ Espeon shook her head and use Psyshock as she surrounded Braviary with purple balls of energy, releasing the attack as they burst on contact with Braviary. Espeon looked on as smoke covered Braviary, but the smoke caused her to be caught off guard as Braviary rushed her with Quick Attack, smacking her away as he swooped down and came back to the sky. Leafeon tried to hit Braviary with Leaf Storm, but she just missed him as he flew away with the speed boost of Quick Attack.

"Just give up! There's no way scum such as yourselves are going to be able to defeat me. You've barely even landed a hit, and you don't have any reinforcements coming!" Braviary said with a very proud tone of voice. However, his confident attitude quickly disappeared as he saw who had entered the castle.

"Weeeeeell _howdy_ ho!" Melvin smiled and chuckled as he surveyed the situation. "It seems that a certain couple of nuisances beat me to the castle, and are quickly getting disposed of. How convenient!" Melvin switched his attention to Braviary. "Well well, it seems that the King is getting involved with this rabble. I must admit, I'm impressed that you folk could even get his attention in the first place."

Espeon grit her teeth. _Dammit, we're already weakened, and now we have to deal with Melvin… We're not going to be able to control him if he goes crazy!_

Braviary quickly swiped his wings aside, causing a strong gust of wind. "Enough! I will not allow this blasphemy and disobedience in my presence!" Braviary used Brave Bird and dove straight at Melvin, trying to deal as much damage as possible with his first strike.

"Hehe… Wrong move, Blue Blood." Melvin used his own Flare Blitz and the attack connected with Brave Bird, causing an explosion as Braviary was sent flying. "Don't challenge me to a direct fight like that, I'm a lot stronger than I look."

Braviary hit the ground with a hard thud as he skid across the floor, smoking from the burns that Flare Blitz had caused. "What the… How did you…"

"SACRED FIRE!" Melvin was surrounded with the familiar Green Light as he blasted Braviary with a large cluster of Blue Flames, completely surrounding Braviary in the Blue Flame as he cried out in pain, collapsing to the floor as the fires finally died down.

"Y-You… What _are_ you…." Braviary coughed, as his own body was smoking enough to the point where it was getting hard for Braviary to breath. Melvin slowly approached him as he stood tall with confidence and fulfillment.

"Oh King, you don't understand just how gratifying it is to see you on the ground, defeated by my hand. I've _longed_ for this day, ever since you had ruined my life. I've been dreaming about it, wondering in what different ways I could kill you… make you suffer…." Melvin licked his lips. "And with nothing else in my way, my dreams will finally become a reality."

Braviary chuckled softly under his breath, but it quickly built up volume before bursting into a fit of laughter. Melvin scowled as Braviary looked at him with a crazed expression. "You… You think you've won?! You'd better think again! Guards, bring in the ransom!"

As Braviary said that, three Boldores came in carrying 3 statues, with the spitting image of Jolteon, Vaporeon, and Glaceon. Sylveon's expression changed to one of shock as she looked on. "N-No… The others…."

Braviary walked over to the statues and used Steel Wing, putting the sharp wing close to the statue of Glaceon. "I don't want you moving another muscle, you little creep. If you take even another step towards me before surrendering, I'm going to take the head of this little girl's statue clean off. And we wouldn't want that now, would we?" Braviary laughed, thinking that he had Melvin trapped in an unwinnable situation, but his expression turned to one of surprised as Melvin laughed right back.

"Oh, my dear King, I don't think you know who you're dealing with… Do you really think I care about any of those 3? Forget it! NOTHING IS STANDING IN MY WAY OF GETTING MY REVENGE!" Melvin rushed towards Braviary with Flare Blitz as Braviary began to move his Steel Wing towards Glaceon.

 _No, stop! You can't let him do that!_ Melvin stuttered and let out a scream of pain as the twisted form disappeared, revealing Flareon's old form to be back in view. He looked on at Braviary, who was about to slice clean through Glaceon. "STOOOOOOOOOP!"

Braviary stopped his wing and turned back towards Flareon, noticing that the form had changed. Flareon fell to the ground, tears in his eyes as he looked at the ground. "I… I surrender…."

Braviary blinked before smiling and continue his laughter. "Well well, it seems that you couldn't go through with it after all… It's a shame, really. You could've saved so many people if you had just gone through with it. But now…." Braviary looked behind him and smiled. "...It's too late."

Flareon looked back and saw a swarm of Pokemon walking in. Rock types, Electric types, bug types… Flareon noticed the Aerodactyl and the Golisopod leading their respective armies, and shook his head in denial. "No… It can't be…. Golisopod, why did you betray us?!"

Golisopod growled and looked at Flareon. "Why? I'll tell you why, it's because you killed my father!"

Flareon's eyes widened as he struggled on to his feet and looked the bipedal bug in the eye. "W-What? No, that's not true… I couldn't have…"

Golisopod's hand curled into a fist. "You did. You murdered him in _cold blood_. I knew you wouldn't remember me, I was just a Wimpod back then."

Flareon furrowed his brow before the memory finally came back to him.

 **Begin Flashback**

 _The Goliosopod scowled. This is nothing like we should be… What happened to us?_

 _A Wimpod started to crawl out, but Goliosopod urged it to go back behind. "It's too dangerous out here. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you…"_

" _B-But Dad, I wanna fight too…"_

 _Goliosopod shook his head. "Once I go out to fight, you may tag along. But for now, it seems we have this all under control."_

 **End Flashback**

"Y-You mean… your father…" Flareon stuttered on his words as he came to terms with the situation.

"That's right. You killed my father in that battle, even though he did NOTHING WRONG!" Golisopod stamped his foot on to the ground in anger. " _That_ is why you deserve to die, you criminal!"

Flareon moved forward, hissing in pain as he stepped towards Golisopod. "Golisopod, listen to me… I didn't mean to kill your father… And I'm sorry. But what you need to realize is that this isn't right! Your father didn't wish to fight in that battle, he didn't want any of this! He wanted to set a good example for his people, to set a good example for _you_. Don't let these people manipulate you, you're a good person and I know that you can do the right thing. I know that's what your father would have wanted. If you don't wish to do that… Then I give you permission to kill me."

Golisopod recoiled at what Flareon said. He… hadn't expected Flareon to act like that. He hadn't been acting like that before… "I… I don't… What…"

Flareon turned to Aerodactyl. "And you… Aerodactyl… You are a man of honor. You didn't pursue me when you had taken me down the mountain. Why are you serving someone like this? He's a tyrant, but you are not…"

Aerodactyl turned away. "I don't need someone like you questioning my loyalty… I'm going to do what I wish, and you're not going to do anything about it! Everyone, change of plans! Attack those filthy bugs!" Aerodactyl rushed towards an unexpecting Golisopod as he smacked him with Wing Attack, causing him to go flying.

Braviary got up and looked at Flareon, wincing in pain as he tried to start fighting. "You! It's time for you to DIE!" Braviary rushed through the air and tried to hit him with Wing Attack, but he was hit by Foul Play as he was thrown away by Umbreon. Flareon nodded in thanks towards Umbreon as he ran towards the statues. One of the Electric types noticed this and charged the beam, aiming towards Flareon. Flareon turned around and looked shocked, but he hid behind Jolteon's statue to prevent himself from being hit. However, when the statue was hit….

"W-Wha… What the? Where am I?" Jolteon looked around as he returned to his original form. Flareon looked in awe as Jolteon returned, but he was sent back to his original mindset as the Ampharos began charging again. "Jolteon, watch out!"

Jolteon looked at the machine and growled. "Oh no, I am _not_ letting that happen again!" Jolteon charged up and released a Thunderbolt, hitting the headgear on the Ampharos and causing it to explode, knocking out the Ampharos. "Haha, score one for Jolteon!"

Flareon smiled and stepped beside him. "Good to have you back, buddy! But we need to take out the King, quic-" Flareon turned to where the King was supposed to be, but it seems that he had disappeared. "...Where did he go?"

One of the members of Aerodactyl's army noticed this and yelled out, "THE KING HAS FLED!"

Everyone heard this and immediately stopped fighting, confused looks being shared between each other as they didn't know where he was, or what to do.

Aerodactyl just looked on in shock at first, but it quickly changed to anger. "That coward… How dare…"

Sylveon took this as an opportunity to finally put an end to this. She hopped up onto the throne and cleared her throat, using Hyper Voice to make herself louder. "ATTENTION EVERYONE, THE KING HAS ABANDONED YOU! WE DO NOT WISH TO FIGHT YOU ANY LONGER, SO PLEASE, LET'S STOP THE WAR!"

The different armies looked between each other, at first with uncertainty… But as they did so, they started to laugh and cheer as they realized that the war had finally ended. Everyone started laughing, and suddenly, a loud cheer from everyone in the room was heard.

Aerodactyl couldn't believe it. Both armies, two sides that had been enemies for decades… Now cheering together? He couldn't believe it. Flareon noticed this and walked over to Aerodactyl. "Aerodactyl, the war is over. Your King has left you, and it's time that we put an end to this."

Aero looked at Flareon with a confused expression, before closing his eyes and scowling. "I know that, you walking pile of fluff…." Flareon frowned at the insult, but Aero had a sincere expression on his face. "But… You were right before. I never truly wished for this, but I had no choice. Thank you for trying your hardest to solve this, we are forever indebted to you."

Flareon nodded and smiled. "Well, I'm glad I could help, is all. And hey, since I don't think the King had any successors, I suppose that makes you the ruler of this village?"

Aerodactyl look at him in shock, but merely chuckled and turned away. "I suppose that's a possibility… But I don't think this area needs a King. I think what we need is a Senate, much like the one the lower villages have… In fact, maybe I could involve of them, too. Who knows!" Aerodactyl flew away, with Flareon looking on in happiness as he turned and immediately bumped into Golisopod.

"Flareon." Golisopod looked down on the dog-like animal with a sinister expression, causing Flareon to shake a little bit. "...Thank you for telling me the truth. With the knowledge you have given me, I can safely say that I will make sure to support you on your quest to gather the shards."

Flareon let out a sigh of relief as he nodded. "Of course, Golisopod. I know you're a good person, so I didn't want to see you in that state of manipulation."

Golisopod nodded and started to walk away, before he stopped and turned back. "Oh, and don't worry about the statues. I'll make sure to have the Electric types turn them back to normal."

Flareon smiled and quickly put in one last message. "Oh! Can you change my friends back first?"

Golisopod nodded and turned to Luxray. "You. Fire the laser at those two statues over there."

Luxray scowled and turned to those statues. "Don't give me orders, Bug Boy." However, despite his snide remark, Luxray obeyed and charged up the laser, firing two at the statues of Vaporeon and Glaceon. As they hit, the two statues changed form as the two returned to their original form. They slowly blinked as their expression looked confused. However, Glaceon's look landed on Flareon and she smiled in pure joy.

"FLAREON!" She rushed towards Flareon and gave him a large hug as tears streamed down her face. "Flareon, I… I m-missed you, and I thought you died, and you wouldn't come and and and-"

Flareon returned to hug and tried to calm her down. "Hey, it's okay, I'm right here… I'm sorry for scaring you…"

Vaporeon saw this scene and walked over, awkwardly shifting as she had a look of guilt on her face. "Hey… Flareon…."

Flareon and Glaceon split up and saw Vaporeon walk over. "I'm… sorry for causing so much trouble. I caused all of this to happen…."

Flareon looked at Glaceon before looking back to Vaporeon. "Hey, it's alright. I turned out fine, right? And besides, if you hadn't done that, I wouldn't have ended up in the lower villages, and we probably would have lost this battle. I forgive you."

Glaceon stepped up and nodded. "And… I'm sorry for yelling at you about it. I wasn't thinking straight."

Vaporeon smiled and nodded, with Glaceon doing the same. Flareon smiled at the scene, before turning his attention to a Boldore coming towards him. The Boldore was carrying a Green Shard, one that was still sparking with energy. Flareon smiled and nodded, opening his bag and quickly swiping it into the bag as he sealed it. "Alright everyone, I think we're just about done here, let's clean up and head back down to get some sleep."

* * *

 **That night….**

 _Alright, I need to figure out exactly what happened… How did I lose control of my body? What happened?_ Flareon sat in his bed, thinking about what happened that day, before he felt himself be pulled somewhere. He landed on the ground as a ghost-like figure, looking around as he saw himself in a strange hallway.

"What the… What is this place?" Flareon looked around.

"This is my mind. Or rather… Our mind, I suppose." Flareon looked over as he saw Melvin walking towards him. "It's about time you showed up here, I've been trying to contact you for a while now."

Flareon grit his teeth. "You! You're the one who took over my body! How the hell did you get in here?!"

Melvin growled. "I could ask _you_ the exact same thing, buddy! You know how it feels to have my own life be taken away by some random person who invades your body?"

Flareon took a step back and tilted his head sideways. "Wait, so does that mean-"

Melvin sighed and looked at Flareon. "Yeah, this is _my_ body, and you're trespassing."

Flareon shook his head. "Well, tough luck, because I need this body in order to complete the mission I'm currently working on. I'm not going to let you take over my body again until it's all complete. Once we're done with the mission, I'll let you take control of the body again."

Melvin rolled his eyes and sighed. "Geez, yes, I get it… God, you're such a sap. I can see now why you stopped me from taking out the King earlier."

Flareon growled. "Are you kidding me?! You were going to let the King murder Glaceon! I couldn't let you go through with that."

Melvin laughed and smirked at Flareon. "Ah, yes, _of course_ I couldn't, because she's too important to you, or some crap like that. Look buddy, I know all about what you've been doing in my body. Your mind room tells me all I need to know."

Flareon raised an eyebrow and looked at where Melvin was pointing, noticing a large door. "What in the world…"

"It's your mind room. This is the room that contains all your thoughts, all your memories… Everything. I can feel what you feel when you get in there, but before you ask, no. There are no memories of your life from before you were put into my body. It's just a huge maze in there, aside from your current memories."

Flareon sighed and looked disappointed. "I see… Well, thanks for telling me, anyways."

Melvin smiled. "Look, I might not be the nicest person, but it's in my best interest to keep you alive for now, so I'm going to be helping you."

Flareon gave him a suspicious look. "I dunno… I don't think I appreciate you allowing my friends to die in order to further your own goals."

Melvin chuckled and shrugged. "Hey, it's my advice. Take it or leave it, I don't care. What you _should_ do now is get some sleep. We'll talk more in the morning, 'kay?" Melvin walked away as a burst of light opened up behind Flareon. He looked at it and nodded, walking towards it to become conscious once more.

 **End of Chapter 18**

 **Alright, that was a much bigger chapter than I had anticipated! Hope you guys don't mind the length, I just wanted to get in as much as possible. Anyways, thanks for reading the chapter, and I'd like to give a shoutout to Nox Calyx! They're a pretty new author, but they have two stories on Pokemon that I think you guys are really going to enjoy! Anywho, that's all from me. Hope you guys have a good day. Deuces!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hey guys! DuffleGamer here, finally able to upload a new chapter! Sorry this has taken so long, I've been dealing with a lot of stuff irl and this has been a lot of work for me, but here it is! Enough chit chat, let's go!**

Chapter 19: No Rest for the Weary

Flareon slowly opened his eyes and rolled out of bed, rubbing his eyes and he slowly walked towards the door of his hut. He was exhausted and he knew it, with the mixture of the over-exertion on battling and the lack of sleep due to talking to Melvin, he was not ready to go for the day. But, he supposed he had no choice, and shook his head before opening the door. The air felt… calm. Children were playing, the breeze was blowing, and the grass slowly drifted back and forth in the wind. Now that those horrifying statues no longer dotted the plains, pokemon were free to roam the area and enjoy it to their heart's' content. Flareon turned to his left and saw Venusaur walking towards him.

"Ah, Flareon, good to see you're awake. Feeling rested after that long battle?" Venusaur had a smile on his face, but it turned into a frown as Flareon shook his head.

"Unfortunately, no, I still feel completely drained. But, I suppose there's nothing I can really do about it. I still have a job to do, and I plan to keep going until it's finished."

Venusaur shook his own head in response. "Dear friend, you shouldn't be pushing yourself so hard. If you're tired, you shouldn't try and do more, you'll only end up holding everybody back."

Flareon gritted his teeth at how he said that, but sighed once he realized it was the truth. "I suppose so, but they need a leader. Thanks for the advice, and I'll take it easy, but I must keep going."

Venusaur lowered his head. "If that is what you insist, then I will not stop you. But please, be cautious on your travels. The road ahead is sure to be a bumpy one."

"Gotcha." Flareon nodded and walked towards where his group had seemingly gathered. Jolteon smirked and walked over to him.

"And so the sleeping prince awakens! Good to see you pal, how're you holding up?" Jolteon had a large smirk on his face, and Flareon was more than happy to knock off that smirk.

"Better than you are, buddy. You look like a wreck."

Jolteon grit his teeth. "I'll have you know that I'm just fine, thanks."

Espeon rolled her eyes and stepped between the two. "Alright, alright, settle down. I hate to interrupt your _ahem_ measuring contest, but we have a job to do. Our next stop is the icy landscape to the North. They call it Freezeezy Peak, which is a bit misleading since the entire area is pretty flat. But, as you could probably tell, snow and snow storms are very common over there, so make sure you're packing something warm."

When Flareon heard that, he could feel his heart drop and his eyes shrink. _...Snow? As in… cold?_

Jolteon was walking away with the group when he turned back and looked at a Flareon who was frozen in place. He chuckled. "Aw, what's wrong, little Flareon's afraid of a little snow?"

Flareon blushed and grit his teeth. "I am not afraid of any snow! I was just… distracted, is all." Flareon quickly walked past Jolteon, starting to the lead the group to their next destination. Jolteon tilted his head in confusion.

"Geez, I didn't mean it, I was just messing with him. He never reacts like that before, what do you think happened?" Jolteon looked around at the other Eeveelutions, looking for someone who could give him an answer.

Sylveon, with a worried look on her face, stepped towards Jolteon. "He's probably just stressed, sweetie. Having a maniac take over your body and almost losing your loved one is a lot to take in. We just need to support him." Sylveon turned back to Espeon. "Sweetie, do you mind making some leader decisions a little while longer? I don't think Flareon's gonna be able to do it…"

Espeon was taken aback, but nodded in agreement, feeling a little smirk of pride form on her face. "Y-Yes, will do… ma'am."

Sylveon giggled at how flustered Espeon got, but stopped when she felt Glaceon tap her side. "Now, when you said loved one, you didn't mean…"

Glaceon smiled and turned back towards the direction they were walking. "Well, who else could I have been talking about?~"

Glaceon growled. "So you were! Oooo, Sylveon, get over here!" Sylveon happily ran away as Glaceon chased her down. Vaporeon and Leafeon looked at each other with smiles as they both chased them as well. Espeon was about to go join the other girls, but was stopped when she heard Umbreon.

 _Hold it, Espeon._

She turned back to Umbreon. _Umbreon? What's up, is there something wrong?_

 _Not with me, but with Flareon. I think you need to read his mind._

 _What? Umbreon, you know I don't just read someone's mind willy nilly, I have to take responsibility with-_

 _Yeah, and I get that, but there's something wrong with him. Like, something VERY wrong with him, and I think Melvin is the cause of it._

 _Wait, you don't mean… Melvin's still around?!_

Umbreon nodded. _That's what I'm thinking. And what I'm also thinking is that Melvin is feeding him some information that's putting him on edge. If you can find out what's happening in there, maybe we can talk to him and help him._

 _But he's not gonna listen to us. Sure, we're friends, but we're not SUPER close._

 _Then get Glaceon to talk to him. Surely out of all of us, she'd be able to knock him out of his slump._

 _I guess, but… I don't know, it just feels wrong…._

 _Espeon, please. You know he needs this. The entire team is at risk if our leader is making rash decisions, and in his state, that's very possible._

Espeon sighed and turned towards the path. _Alright, fine. I'll do it._

Umbreon nodded and they both ran to catch up to everybody else.

* * *

It wasn't long after they were continuing on the road that Flareon was gritting his teeth in frustration again. Melvin, oh how he hated that name, decided that talking to Flareon frequently was a good way to cure his boredom. Well, Melvin's boredom that is. All it did was feed Flareon's frustration.

 _You know, you're acting pretty on edge there, Fire Boy. You alright? You need Uncle Melvin to come give you some advice?_

 _You can shut it, Melvin. You know the reason I'm on edge is because of you, and I don't wanna hear your stupid "advice", because I know it'll just be some stupid comment about how friends don't matter or something. I don't need you, Melvin._

 _Oh, but you really DO need me, hot shot. You really think the power in this body is all yours?_

 _...I don't understand what you mean._

 _Here, lemme try and make it clear for you. When you're fighting, do you ever feel a situation where you're going on autopilot? Where you just stop thinking and just… attack._

 _...No…._

 _Ah, now you're getting it. See, in those mere moments, where you will isn't strong enough, it allows me to briefly take control of your body, even if it's only for a split second. However, it seems that I'm going to be able to take control for even longer in the future, now that our link is stronger than ever. In fact, I could probably take control of this body for the entirety of a battle if I wanted to! Ahahaha!_

Espeon gasped and opened her eyes. She had been reading Flareon's mind, and she listened to every part of his talk with Melvin. Everyone, Flareon included, moved over to Espeon.

"Espeon, what's wrong? Did you see something?" Glaceon was the first to ask Espeon. Espeon was breathing pretty heavily as her gaze darted around the group, finally resting on Flareon's deadpan expression.

"N-No… No, I'm fine. Sorry, was just… surprised, is all. Sorry to have worried you all, but we must proceed if we want to get to our destination in a timely manner." Espeon shook herself and tried to recompose her body as everyone turned around to head towards the next Green Shard location. Umbreon, however, took this as an opportunity to talk to Espeon.

 _So, you going to explain what that was all about?_

 _...We need to send Flareon home. We can't let him battle how he is._

 _Are you kidding?! There's no way the situation can be THAT serious, could it?_

 _Melvin has way too much influence over Flareon right now. I heard their discussion, and Melvin explained that he has the ability to take over Flareon if he has even a slight lapse in his will._ Espeon turned to Umbreon with a concerned look on her face.

 _Well, that doesn't seem like too big of a problem. After all, Flareon is pretty adamant in what he wants. You saw what happened in the palace, he's not one to just give up._

Espeon frowned and furrowed her brows. _Umbreon, you know as well as I do that he can have his will broken, just as much as any of us. Besides, it's happened multiple times before. Apparently, when Flareon has little bursts of power, that's Melvin stepping in and taking over._

Umbreon's vacant expression was soon replaced by one of shock. _Wait, but how is that possible?_

 _Don't you see the issue? In order to maintain Melvin, that means that Flareon has to be focused on it at all times, and control his strength. If he tries to do anything more than a basic Flare Blitz, than Melvin has a good chance of taking control._

 _So, if he were to use something such as Sacred Fire, then he would-_

 _Lose control completely, yes. And with how shaken he is, he could lose control very easily. And as we know, Melvin is a hazard to everyone. The enemy, our own group, even just innocent bystanders._

 _...Still, with all of this said, I think we should wait it out._

Espeon was bewildered. _Are you kidding me? After all I've explained, you still think he should come along with us?!_

 _I didn't say that. I merely said that we should… wait it out. See how things go._

 _...I don't think I follow. You mind explaining?_

 _If what you say about Flareon is true, than his emotions must be going wild. Sylveon's bound to notice this eventually, and she can find a solution. I don't think we should just give up on him until we give her or Glaceon a chance to calm him down._

Espeon sighed and shook her head. _Yes, you're correct. I shouldn't be hasty in my decisions here, this band is putting their faith in me to lead them to victory, and I should consider all options._

Umbreon gave her a sideways look. _And you were doing so well?_

Espeon had a look of confusion on her face. _And what does that mean?_

 _You were talking pretty casually for a while there, but you changed back after you calmed down._

Espeon bit her lip. _I'm still working on it. It's hard to completely change my speech patterns, y'know?_

Umbreon smiled. _Well now you're just combining the two._

Espeon stuck out her tongue and giggled. _Hmhm, well, gotta keep you on your toes somehow~_ Espeon winked as she walked a bit ahead of Umbreon, rejoining with the group.

Umbreon just blinked and felt a blush rising on his face. _Man, if I could talk, I'd probably be stuttering very hard right about now…_

Meanwhile, Umbreon's predictions were right. Sylveon kept stealing glances over at Flareon, who she could tell was incredibly bothered by something. She could see him with his eyes closed, constantly tensing and untensing his body. It… wasn't something you just do when you travel. She looked the opposite direction, towards Glaceon and Leafeon who were talking about the events that took place not too long ago. _Well, if anyone can talk to Flareon, it's her._ Sylveon walked over to the two girls and cleared her throat, getting the attention of the two Eeveelutions.

"Hey, girls, sorry to bother you, but I have a pretty big problem."

"What is it, Sylveon? Is Jolteon being as dense as usual again?" Leafeon stuck her tongue out while Glaceon giggled a bit at her joke.

Sylveon blushed a bit. "W-What? Now, you listen here, Jolteon is… not that bad…." She looked over at Jolteon and sighed. Through all of this struggle, she had completely forgotten about her _own_ love life… The one she couldn't follow through on. She had a job here, she was the mother figure! And Jolteon… well… He wasn't much of a father, really. More like the kid brother.

Glaceon walked towards Sylveon and put her paw on Sylveon's shoulder. "Don't worry Sylv, I'm sure he'll notice eventually. All 3 of the guys here haven't taken a hint yet, so it's not like this is something we all can't deal with."

Sylveon smiled at that comment. She was right, though. Flareon, Jolteon, and even Umbreon had no idea about the advances that the girls were making. Well, maybe Umbreon did, but she wouldn't know. Can't really communicate with him very well, after all. Flareon had no excuse though, Glaceon was being very clear! Wait, Flareon…?

Sylveon snapped back into reality and quickly shook her head. "Ugh, I forgot, I'm not here to talk about Jolteon! I have something urgent!"

Leafeon had a look of curiosity on her face as Sylveon started getting worked up. "Sylv, sweetie, are you okay? I've never seen you this… intense, before. Not even in a fight!"

"It's Flareon, okay? There's something seriously wrong with him, his emotions are all over the place!" Glaceon immediately perked up, and she looked over at Flareon. Sure enough, he was by himself, seemingly brooding about this or that. "He hasn't talked to anyone since we left, not even Jolteon!"

Glaceon bit her lip. "So you want me to go talk to him?" Sylveon nodded. "...But wouldn't Jolteon probably be better? He'd probably understand what's going on a bit better…"

"Sweetie, he doesn't know it that much yet, but you're his best friend. If he's not willing to talk to something with you, then he's not gonna be willing to talk about it with anyone." Sylveon turned back to Glaceon and winked. "Besides, are you really gonna pass up an opportunity to talk to your man?~"

Leafeon giggled, but Glaceon just rolled her eyes. "He's not my 'man', Sylveon, but he is my best friend. I'll go talk to him."

Leafeon got serious. "Hey, good luck sis. Just try and cheer him up, that's all you need to do."

Glaceon nodded and headed over to Flareon. Right off the bat, she could tell something wasn't right. Just the act of approaching him made her have a pit in her stomach, and that _never_ happened before. It was obvious that Flareon wasn't the caring, strong individual she had seen in the past few areas. Instead, she was left with this… scared husk. She closed her eyes and shook her head. _No, I can't think like that. Flareon needs me, and we all need him back._ Glaceon swallowed and finally tapped Flareon on the shoulder, trying to get his attention. "H-Hey, Flareon? Are you alright?"

Flareon, being surprised by her touch, frantically opened his eyes and whipped his attention back to Glaceon. "W-Wha- Oh… It's just you. Yeah, I'm fine, just got a lot on my mind right now."

Glaceon started walking side-by-side with him. "You wanna talk about it? You'd probably be better off talking about it with someone, it lets you organize your thoughts."

"..." Flareon was quiet for a little bit before he sighed and eventually complied. "Okay, you're right, I should be talking about this. You're aware of what happened at the castle, right?"

Glaceon nodded. "I didn't witness it, but Leafeon filled me in on what happened. She said you… had your body taken, by some guy named Melvin? And then that person went on a rampage?"

Flareon nodded in response. "Yeah, that."

Glaceon smiled, shaking her head. "Flare, you don't need to worry about that, that was just a slip up. Besides, everything worked out in the end, right?"

Flareon closed his eyes and turned away from her. He could hear Melvin cackling in his head. _So, you gonna tell her what happened BEFORE she was freed? Or should you just keep being guilty about it?_

Glaceon inched a little closer. "Flareon! Hey, are you in there?"

Flareon sighed and turned back to her. "Glaceon, I need to explain something to you."

Glaceon pulled back and nodded, keeping her mouth shut.

Flareon took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to prepare himself for his little story. "Okay, so when I had lost control of my body, Melvin went on a rampage, as you know. He… burned down buildings, killed innocent people… And I watched, unable to do anything. I was so full of shame that I let all those people down."

Glaceon wanted to interject with something like "That's not your fault!" but she just bit her lip and let Flareon continue.

"He kept going until he reached the castle. It was there that the remaining members of our group were fighting King Braviary. Melvin decided to join in, and his strength was monstrous. It was at a level I'd never even seen before. He matched the King's Brave Bird with a Flare Blitz, and turned him into a crippled pile in a mere minute. But…"

Flareon paused and grit his teeth. "The King, that cowardly craven, wasn't going to take defeat like that. So he… He used you guys as a trading piece. He said he'd slice off your head if we didn't stand down."

Glaceon's mouth opened up in surprise. _I suppose that explains why we were in the throne room when we were freed, but what does that-_

"Most of our group stood down, since we didn't want to see you hurt. But…" Flareon's composure was starting to fade. "But Melvin didn't. He was so full of rage and pride that he didn't stand down, and was charging right at the King. He was inches away from slicing off your head before I finally gained enough will to take the body back."

Glaceon was dead silent. _I… I could've… died? Just like that?_ "Flareon, I…"

"Me losing control almost got you killed, Glaceon. And now that he's taken full control once before, it's now easier for him to do it again." Flareon clicked his tongue. "It doesn't help that this is actually his body…"

Glaceon quickly whipped her attention back to Flareon. "Wait wait, what?! You mean to tell me that you-"

Flareon nodded. "Remember on the beach? How I kept insisting that I was a human, even though I had no memories? Well, it turns out that I had taken Melvin's body when I came here. I don't know how, or why, but I do know that it happened."

Glaceon looked down at the ground. "I… see."

"That's why I'm scared. It's now easier for him to take control, and if he does, none of you are safe. I don't know what I'd do if I ended up hurting any of you, or god forbid _killed_ one of you because I couldn't hold him back…" Flareon was looking down at the ground, an expression of disgust plastered on his face.

Glaceon let out an exasperated sigh and put her paw on his shoulder. "Listen Flareon, I… I don't know exactly how this whole body switching thing works… But I do know that we care about you. All of us do. Don't feel like this is a burden you need to bear on your own, we can help you."

Flareon looked up. "Espeon already did, not too long ago. She read my mind."

Glaceon was a little shocked by that. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"She could tell I wasn't feeling great. So she read my mind, just like that. I'm sure she knows everything about my situation with Melvin, and the fact that she's doing nothing about it speaks volumes."

Glaceon bit her lip. "Flareon, that's not… I mean, we… I…."

Flareon turned to her, now looking more frustrated than rattled. "Glaceon, what I've learned in the last day is terrifying. I can lose control to a maniac at any time, I'm a hazard to everyone in the group, and to top it all off, I'm gonna lose control permanently once this adventure is over."

Glaceon didn't dare reply after the last part. She just continued to walk next to him in silence, a looming silence that almost seemed suffocating. If only her thoughts could retain that same silence...

 _Flareon's… losing control? Forever? That can't be true… That CAN'T be true… Can it?_

Conflicting emotions started to arise within Glaceon as she considered everything that had just been said. Meanwhile, Flareon continued talking with Melvin.

 _I hope you're happy, Melvin. I hope you're happy that THIS is the other soul inside your body._

Melvin didn't reply. Flareon rolled his eyes, starting to become impatient.

 _Look, Melvin, I'm sick of your games! I'm sick of you trying to mess with my life, and I'm sick of you trying to turn me into something I'm not! We're talking this out right now, you hear me?!_

 _...You're pathetic._

 _That means nothing coming from you._

Melvin sighed. _Look, buddy, there's something you need to realize. This is MY BODY, alright? You might think that you're living your own life, but the fact of the matter is that you aren't. What you did was steal my life and start calling it your own. Do you know how unfair that is to me? To have your control ripped away by some random person?_

 _Yeah, actually, I would happen to know what that's like, considering you did it to me not too long ago._

 _You're still upset about that? Look, I'll make a deal with you. You can have your happy happy fun times with your friends, and I'll only pop in during the battles. Deal?_

 _That is exactly when I DON'T want you popping in, Melvin! You battling almost got my best friend killed!_

 _You mean your lover?_

 _Don't even start with me, Melvin, this is not the time for jokes._

 _Yeah, whatever. Yeah, sure, I might've almost gotten her killed. But these things take sacrifices, you know? The only reason you made it out of that castle is because you got incredibly lucky._

 _Sacrifices?! Melvin, what is WRONG with you?!_

 _Nothing's wrong with me, but there's clearly something wrong with you. You were never adverse to sacrifices before this, were you?_

Flareon didn't respond.

 _I'm gonna take that as a yes. Now see, this type of hypocrisy isn't like you, either. You were always someone who was adamant in their ideals, someone who wouldn't take no for an answer. So it seems like there's some sort of outside motive that makes you hesitant to let me out during battles._

 _And what do you think that motive would be, Melvin?_

Melvin laughed a little bit. _Oh, I don't THINK I know, hothead, I DO know. You don't want me to go out there because you can't accept that fact that I'm stronger than you._

Flareon froze, both in his head and in real life.

 _Well well, looks like I hit the nail on the head with that one._

 _Yeah, right, keep telling yourself that. I don't care who's stronger, I care about the safe-_

 _The safety of the group, yeah, now which one of us is delusional again? We have access to each other's mind room, buddy, and I took a gander at yours. You wanna know what I saw? I saw your caring side start to get smaller. And that side was replaced by something quite interesting: pride._

Flareon bit his lip. _You're crazy._

 _Oh, I knew that, but I'm also right. The curse of every hero, the curse of pride. We've seen it time and time again, have we not?_

 _I'm not talking about this anymore. You can just go back to browsing or whatever you do in there._

 _Oh, I'll do just that, my fluffy little friend. But think about what we've been talking about. This is important information, after all. Tata~_ Flareon's head was suddenly quiet, and so was Flareon himself.

 _Can't accept the fact that he's stronger than me… That's ridiculous! I just wanna keep everyone safe. Everything he said is just manipulation._ Flareon cringed. _But… If that's the case… Why do I feel so… guilty?_

 **End Chapter 19**

 **Okay, wow, that was a doozy! But I'm glad that I finally got this chapter out for you guys, it was certainly a long time coming. Sorry for no major story progress here, but I needed a bit of a set-up chapter so that writing Chapter 20 is both easier and better. No shoutout this time, but I'll try to find one for next time. Thanks for reading and have a nice day. Deuces!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey guys, DuffleGamer here with my single upload every century! Sorry it's taken so long, I lost a lot of motivation to write for this story and I haven't really had the time to make anything decent, but I think I've got it down this time! Anyways, without further ado, let's hop into the chapter.**

Chapter 20: What it Means to be Alive

A harrowing silence hung over the group. That chilling, unnatural silence that plagued the party members as they continued down their path. Flareon's news was not a welcome piece of information for everyone, and they were all taking it hard. Glaceon especially was heartbroken, but everyone else was still equally as shocked and confused. This silence would not be broken for a while, until the group eventually stumbled upon an old looking village, which seemed to be decently populated. Espeon turned towards the group.

"Alright everyone, we seem to be approaching Knight's Sanctuary. It's a somewhat small village, but we can take this time to relax and prepare ourselves for the far North. This is gonna be our last major town until we get to the North, so I think we should stop here." Espeon explained to them.

Flareon nodded in agreement. "Alright, that sounds fine by me. I'm gonna explore the town a little bit, and we can meet up at the town square in roughly an hour." Glaceon was about to interject, but he was running away from earshot, and so her ears sunk as she let out a saddened sigh. Sylveon motioned for everyone to come over as she rubbed her feelers on Glaceon's back.

"Don't worry sweetie, it's not you… We all know he's going through a lot…"

Jolteon shook his head and slammed his paw down. "Okay, does anyone have a plan for how to deal with this? Cause this is ridiculous!"

Espeon glared at him. "Look Jolteon, we're all as concerned as you, okay? But this isn't something we can just fix. As long as Melvin is in his head, we can't do anything but reassure him that things are gonna be okay…"

Vaporeon clicked her tongue. "Okay, here's a thought… What if things _aren't_ going to be okay? What then?"

Leafeon turned to Vaporeon and frowned. "Vapey, Flareon's gonna be okay! He's strong enough to not let that Melvin guy hold any claim over him. The more we doubt him, the more upset he's gonna get. So we just have to have faith and let him sort this out himself."

Sylveon nodded twice. "You're right. But in the meantime, we just need to give him some space, alright? I wouldn't want all of us pressuring him if I was in his position."

Jolteon grit his teeth, basically fuming as he listened to all of this. Eventually he just slammed his paw down on the ground. "Forget this! I'm not gonna sit around doing nothing while my best friend is suffering! I'm going out there and making sure he's okay!"

Vaporeon tried to stop him, but he was already long gone as he quickly sprinted towards the town. Sylveon let out a sigh as she shook her head. "We should follow him. I don't want him doing anything stupid with Flareon that'll make things worse."

Everyone nodded in agreement as they headed towards the town.

* * *

Flareon and Melvin were having another chat, that much was obvious. Flareon's facial expressions and the movements he was making made it very clear that they were have a discussion.

 _So how long are you gonna admit that this isn't about your friends? How long are you gonna lie to yourself, saying that this isn't a matter of PRIDE?!_

 _Melvin, why don't you just shut up about all this pride nonsense?! I've never fought for the sake of pride and I never will, am I clear on that?_

 _Look buddy, you LITERALLY can't hide anything from me, I know you from the inside out!_ Melvin sighed. _Okay, lemme try and put this in a way that's fair. I know you care for your friends or whatever, and I know a big part of you fighting is for them. But what I can also see is that you're afraid of not having control. And most importantly, you're afraid that the one thing you're actually good at will be taken away from you._

Flareon hesitated. _N-Now you… Listen, fighting isn't the only-_

 _Yeah, I'm sure. It just sucks that you literally have no idea how to do anything else, right? You don't know what you did as a human, and you most likely never will again. So all you can do is fight for these people to try and make some self-worth for yourself. And you're aware that if you give up your fighting in favor of letting me fight, you will have no more worth. And that scares you, doesn't it?_

Flareon was speechless. His eyes became smaller as he couldn't deny this. He wanted to deny this so incredibly much, but everything was unravelling. His facial expression said it all.

 _I knew it. That's the REAL reason you don't wanna let me fight, isn't it? Because you're afraid that you're going to contribute nothing to this world without fighting. And even though I've told you that I won't sacrifice your friends, you're still gonna keep me trapped here and let your friends have the illusion that I'm heartless when you're just-_

 _You ARE heartless, Melvin. You are a liar, a thief, and a murderer. You think I'm just going to allow you to roam free after what you did at the Mountain Village? Never again, Melvin. I don't care if you are leagues ahead of me in strength, your strength is as black hearted and evil as it gets. And THAT is why I will never let you have control._

 _Hmph. We'll see how long that lasts you. But when you face an opponent that's too strong for you, you're not gonna have any choice but to come to-_

Melvin was interrupted as a large explosion was heard. Flareon whipped his attention towards the explosion, starting to head towards it with a determined expression.

 _Melvin, don't try to take over my body this fight. I'm gonna prove to you that I can do this myself._

Melvin chuckled a little bit. _Y'know what? Sure, go crazy. I'll sit here and enjoy the show._

Flareon came to a skidding stop as he eyed up the culprits. He sighed and rolled his eyes as he realized who it was. The two Pokemon, a Bisharp and a Weavile, turned towards him and smiled.

"Well well well, look who showed up Bish! Looks like our little lure worked, and our prey is here~" Weavile readied his claws and smirked as he eyed Flareon.

Bisharp nodded and readied his arm blades. Flareon wasted no time and shot a Fire Blast at the two. Both of them dodged, but the Blast hit the ground and puffed some dust into the air. They couldn't see Flareon as he charged at Weavile with Flare Blitz, hitting him square on the chest as he went flying. The dust finally cleared and Bisharp swung down at Flareon, who back flipped and landed on his feet. Weavile got up and used Ice Shard, firing a small shard of Ice at Flareon as he landed. It hit Flareon on his side, doing a bit of damage. Flareon quickly shook it off as Bisharp charged towards him with Metal Claw, ready to bring it down on Flareon. Flareon retaliated with Iron Tail, using his hardened tail to match the attack. He deflected his claw and followed up with another Flare Blitz, sending Bisharp into a nearby building.

Weavile was now back, eyeing Flareon as he tried to use his speed to trick him. However, Flareon noticed this and used Quick Attack himself, trying to match him. The two danced around each other at high speeds, but Bisharp caught Flareon off guard as he slammed him with a powerful Pursuit. Flareon cried out in pain and hit the ground with a thud, rolling on the ground as he groaned in pain. The two were snickering at how they caught him off guard, but stopped as they were hit by a strike of lightning. Jolteon skidded to a stop in front of Flareon.

"Hey, Flareon, are you alright? Did anything happen?"

Flareon got up and brushed off his face. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why're you here?"

Jolteon turned back to the two and shook his head. "Less talk, more fight. Come on!" Flareon dashed towards Weavile and started matching his speed, leaving an annoyed Flareon to stare down Bisharp. Bisharp used Metal Claw once more, but instead of matching him, Flareon mixed Quick Attack and Flare Blitz to deliver a hefty blow. Bisharp was knocked down, and was even more damaged as Weavile collided with him. Jolteon and Flareon then charged up a Thunderbolt and a Fire Blast respectively, blasting it at the duo as they were sent flying off to… somewhere. The two Eevees landed on the ground, with Jolteon smiling and nodding his head.

"Oh yeah, that was awesome! Let's go, we did it dude!" Jolteon looked at Flareon with a cocky expression. Flareon, however, was less than pleased. The other Eeveelutions finally caught up, panting heavily as it seemed that they were sprinting to catch up.

Flareon bit his lip and turned away from everyone. "Y'know, I could've taken them myself…"

Jolteon's cocky expression was quickly replaced with one of confusion and sadness. "Wh… what? What'd you say?"

Flareon angirly turned to Jolteon. " **I SAID I COULD'VE TAKEN THEM MYSELF!"**

Jolteon was taken aback, literally moving backwards as Flareon yelled at him. Vaporeon took a step forward, frowning at Flareon. "Dude, come off it! Jolteon was just trying to help you out, okay? You don't need to yell at him for helping you!"

Flareon turned his expression to Vaporeon. "So what, you think I wasn't strong enough to handle them on my own? You think I need help in order to deal with idiots like them?!"

Glaceon finally snapped and walked forward. "Flareon, what the FUCK is wrong with you?! It's not about strength, it's about us working as a team! You are our leader, how could you have forgotten that?!"

Everyone was silent. No one dared speak a word after that, and all that happened was Jolteon looking at Glaceon and then Flareon, shifting his attention back and forth as he tried to gauge reactions. Glaceon was the first to break the silence, quickly returning to her usual self.

"O-Oh, I… Arceus, I'm so sorry Flareon… I-I didn't-"

"No. You're right." Flareon's ears drooped down as he started calming down. "I've been unreasonable lately. I just… I'm so scared. The only thing I can do for you all is fight, and now that Melvin's stronger than me… It makes me feel worthless. Like I can't do anything for you guys. And without all of you, well… I'd be nothing."

Espeon finally put all the pieces of the puzzle together, and she smiled. "I get it now. You're not afraid of Melvin taking over at all, are you? You're just afraid that you won't be able to help us, is that it?"

Flareon nodded, slowly turning away in shame. Espeon, however, walked towards him with a comforting smile. "Well that's about the silliest thing I've ever heard from you. Flareon, don't you realize what you mean to this group? You're our leader! We all respect you so much, and that alone is worth more than Melvin's fighting skills could ever provide."

Flareon looked at her in shock. He gazed around at everyone in the group, and all of them were smiling and nodding. Flareon's shocked expression turned into one of legitimate joy as he turned to all of them and smiled. "Thanks guys… All of you. You don't know how much you all mean to me…"

Glaceon playfully hit Flareon on his side. "You don't know how much _you_ mean to _us_ , you goof…"

* * *

 _This doesn't prove anything, you know. They'd still be willing to-_

 _Can it, Melvin. I'm not interested anymore._

 _Well, the fact of the matter is that you're still incapable of protecting your friends. You can't tap into this body's true power like I can. One day, that's going to put all of you in trouble._

Flareon just chuckled and shook his head. _Unlike you, I trust my friends. If we're ever put into a sticky situation, I trust them a lot more than I trust you._

Melvin didn't talk much more after that. Happy with the silence inside of his head, Flareon continued talking with Jolteon about that combo attack that they did. Jolteon insisted on the name "Flaming Haymaker", but Flareon thought it should be named "Pyrotechnics" Glaceon laughed a bit at their antics, but the laughing didn't last long. Flareon looked incredibly sick.

Jolteon looked at him with serious concern. "Hey, Flare, buddy… Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Espeon frowned. "That makes sense. This is the far North, where everything is super cold. Even with all the jackets we have, Flareon's body heat is still lower than it should be. He's suffering a lot more than all of us are."

It was true. Flareon, with his eyes closed, could barely even feel his body as he slowly trudged through the frozen wastelands. "I-It's… f-fine… e-everyone… I can… m-manage…" He said this very weakly, but it still seemed like he was able to keep going. However, that didn't stop Glaceon from rubbing up against him.

"Well, I suppose I should help you heat up, no?~" Flareon blushed like crazy as their bodies touched. Yeah, he was definitely warmer now, but something tells him it wasn't only her body heat…

Sylveon was screaming like a little fan girl internally. _Oh my gosh, they're so cute! Ah, I wish I had a camera so badly!~_

Espeon smiled, but wasn't able to pay it much mind as she closed her eyes. She tried to scout out the area, seeing what was ahead. She noticed that Freezeezy Peak was just ahead and smiled. "Alright everyone, we're almost at Freezeezy Peak! Just about a mile left before-"

Her eyes quickly shot open as she sensed something rapidly approaching. She frantically turned around and yelled to the group. "EVERYONE GET DOWN!"

Everyone quickly dropped to the ground as a large bird swooped over them, barely missing its Sky Attack as it slowed and hovered over the group. Flareon cringed, slowly getting up as he eyed the creature. "Is that… an Articuno?"

Jolteon looked on in awe as he eyed the beast. "An Articuno… One of the three birds of legend…. But what's one of them doing here?"

The Articuno let out a strangled screech as it unnaturally said, "tHiS tErRiToRy iS sAcReD, lEaVe iMmEdIaTeLy!"

Espeon closed one of her eyes and yelled out to Articuno. "We're not trying to take over or attack this territory, we just-"

"sIlEnCe! rEfUsAl tO cOmPlY wIlL rEsUlT iN iMmEdIaTe eJeCtIoN!" The Articuno fired a powerful blizzard at the group, hitting all of them as they were sent flying from the powerful ice attack. They all landed on the group with a thump, but Glaceon was quickly able to get back up and fire an Ice Beam at the bird. Articuno was unfazed as it swept away the attack, shooting a powerful Hurricane towards Glaceon. Glaceon couldn't react in time and was caught up, quickly being battered by the attack as she was flung aside. Vaporeon took her own turn as she jumped up, hitting Articuno in the back of the head with an Aqua Tail as Jolteon fired off a Thunderbolt. Both hit its mark, but Articuno quickly recovered and retaliated against Vaporeon with a Sky Attack. Sylveon eventually joined Jolteon's barrage as she started firing off Hyper Voices as well, but Articuno returned its attention to the pair and blew them away with Blizzard.

Flareon could tell that the fight was not going well at all. Most everyone was getting blown back, and he himself could barely see. But of what he could see, he saw the Articuno battling against his friends, pushing them to their limits and tossing them around like rag dolls. Rage built up inside him as he felt loads of heat store up, ready to be fired off in one powerful attack.

 _Oh no you don't, Fire Boy! Now is not the time to be a hero! Remember the other times you tried to save your friends on your own? Those didn't go so well!_

 _Melvin… I don't expect you to understand this, but sometimes you have to be willing to throw everything on the line for your friends. Sometimes you just have to make that sacrifice in order to be the change in the world. And y'know what? You not being able to do this just proves that you're not as strong as you think you are._ Flareon finished charging the attack and ran towards Articuno.

 _N-No, wait, stop it! You're gonna DIE! FLAREON STOP!_

It was too late. Flareon had already jumped up, mouth open and aimed at Articuno. The other Eeveelutions looked up in awe as the blue flames shot out of Flareon's mouth. "TIME TO END THIS! SACRED FIRE!"

 **End of Chapter 20**

 **Hoo boy, that took way longer than I thought! Sorry for the short-ish chapter, I promise I'll make it up to you guys with the next one. However, I hope you all enjoyed and make sure to have a great day! See ya!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Okay, I finally have the motivation to start writing this again! When did I last upload?**

 **...A HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN DAYS AGO?!**

 **Well geez, I guess I'm throwing the intro out of the window, I need to get this done!**

Chapter 21: A Tale of Eternal Winter

 _Oh god, it's so cold… I can feel my entire body shivering… It feels like my blood itself is ice… Can't move… can't breathe… can't feel anything but the cold…_

… _.ake…. ….ak… up….._

 _Huh? What is that noise…?_

 _I ..ai… ake u…._

 _Wait, I think I can hear it now…_

 _I said wake up!_

Flareon's eyes shot open as he jolted upwards, looking around to gauge his surroundings. "I'm… in my soul room…"

"Yeah, that's right. Nice little stunt you had there, almost killing us both and all. Honestly, what were you thinking?!" Melvin walked up to Flareon with an angered expression on his face.

Flareon sighed and got up, not even looking at Melvin as he brushed himself off. "I already told you, Melvin. Sometimes you have to be able to put everything on the line if you want to save your friends."

"You…" Melvin sighed and groaned. "Ugh, whatever, just don't do that again! This is my body too you know…"

"You never cease to remind me…" Flareon turned around, a bit confused. "So how did I even end up here anyways? I didn't purposefully try to come here…"

Melvin sneered. "Yeah, um, did you forget the part where I said "You almost killed us both"? You're in a coma, jackass. And because you are, your subconscious comes here to preserve itself. I'd say that's pretty simple to understand."

Flareon nodded and turned back to him. "So, it's just you and me for a little while until my body recovers?"

"Yup, that sounds about right. It's a shame, too. Your friends must be worried sick." Melvin smirked as he said that, a feeling of pride surging through his body.

Flareon, however, was less than pleased. He walked over to Melvin and sat down in front of him. "Melvin, we need to talk. We've needed to talk for a long time, but I suppose now is as good a time as any."

Melvin sighed and sat down with him, looking a bit annoyed. "Alright, fine. What've you got to say?

* * *

Back in reality, Flareon's shivering body was under a mountain of blankets. A Froslass pulled one more over his body before turning to the group, who were standing near him with concerned expressions. "It's a good thing you brought him here when you did. Any later and he might've died from hypothermia… But since you did, I expect that he'll make a full recovery."

Glaceon smiled and let out a sigh of relief. "Oh Arceus, I'm so glad… I don't know what could've happened to him…"

Sylveon moved her feelers over to Glaceon's back and rubbed it in a reassuring manner. "It's okay, sweetie. Flareon's survived much worse than this, he should have no problem~"

Vaporeon walked up to the two. "Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt this lovely little moment… But this also means we don't have a leader, and we still have some Green Orb shards to find!"

Jolteon scratched his head. "Actually, about that. Why is Flareon even the leader in the first place? Most of the time he's in a coma and when he isn't he's being taken over by Melvin. Personally, I think _I_ should be the leader of the group!"

Sylveon smacked Jolteon on the back of the head. "The only way _you're_ gonna end up being the leader is when the rest of us are dead!"

Jolteon flinched and angrily turned to Sylveon. "Are you kidding me? I could lead 10 times better than you!"

"I could lead better than you while I was blindfolded!" Sylveon pushed her forehead up against Jolteon's.

"You couldn't lead your way out of a plastic bag, you floozy!"

"Don't you dare call me a floozy!"

"Okay, then how about BITCH?!"

"Arrogant dick!"

"Spoiled rotten!"

"Fuck you!"

"Fuck _you!_ "

"FUCK YOU!"

" **FUCK! YOU!"**

Leafeon had had enough, and she stepped in between the two, pushing them away from each other to try and calm them down. "Alright, that's enough out of you guys!"

Vaporeon groaned and rolled her eyes. "Ugh, would you two just _fuck_ already? Sheesh!"

Jolteon and Sylveon angrily glared at Vaporeon while the rest of them just laughed. Espeon, however, coughed to try and get the group's attention. "In all seriousness though, I personally think that Sylveon should lead the group from here on out. She's practically the Mom of the group anyways, and I think she'd make some smart decisions."

Jolteon looked shocked as he stepped towards. "W-Wait! B-But what about you? Why can't you lead us?"

Espeon shook her head. "Sorry guys, but I think I'm gonna stay here with Flareon. I learned a bit about illness from my time studying with Alakazam, and it'd be best if I stayed here and helped Flareon recover. Besides, Glaceon is the only one who can resist the storm well, so as much as she'd love to come stay with him, she can't be her nurse this time~"

Espeon winked at Glaceon who just blushed like crazy and started getting all defensive. "Wh-What?! Hey, did you read my mind?! I told you not to-" She stopped and turned to everyone else, who were all making smug looks on their faces. "...do that…"

Leafeon walked up to Glaceon and patted her on the back. "Well, I tried keeping it a secret sis… Not that it was really much of one anyways. You're reaaaaally bad at hi-"

"Yes Leafeon, I know. I'm aware of that." Glaceon sighed and her ears drooped down.

Umbreon, meanwhile, walked up to Espeon and tapped her shoulder to try and get her attention as well. _Espeon, I think I'd like to stay here as well._

 _What? Umbreon, no, we can't separate our group this much._

 _Espeon, I believe that they will be fine on their own. We've become a lot stronger since we started out. Besides, this would be a good opportunity to start studying Melvin and how he's affecting Flareon's body._

Espeon turned away. _That… is a fair point… But I still don't feel good about it. That group of 5 people looks incredibly dysfunctional without SOMEBODY being the mediator._

 _And you think the mute one is gonna be able to help? Espeon, I'm staying here and that's final._

Espeon sighed and smiled at him. _Y'know, you don't really bring out your forceful side that much… Ever since we were kids, you were always just following me around, serving that part of my mind that wanted to be a leader. And yet, here you are, yelling at me to stay against my wishes._

Umbreon looked a little nervous and stepped back. _O-Oh, well, I uh… I didn't mean-_

 _No no, it's fine. I like it. It's… kinda cute._

Umbreon's nervousness quickly turned into embarrassment, as he blushed and turned away. _O-Oh…_

Espeon smiled before turning back to the group. "Alright guys, Umbreon just told me that he wants to stay here and help me out, so it looks like it's just you 5 for now. Sylveon, take care of them."

Sylveon nodded and smiled at her. "Don't worry, sweetheart~ We'll go get that Orb Shard and be back before you know it~"

Jolteon started grumbling under his breath. "Well… I should've… been the leader… Hmph…"

Froslass hovered over to the group. "Do you folks even know where you're going? It's not safe to just wander around in the snow, you know."

Sylveon turned to everyone in the group before shaking her head. "No, I'm afraid not."

Froslass closed her eyes and hovered towards her window, pointing out of it. "You see that castle-type area, out in the distance? That is the royal castle, the home of the current King. He has a seer with him, and if anyone will be able to help you, it's the King. He is one of the nicest people you will meet, and I'm sure he'd be willing to help you if you asked."

Sylveon nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me. Thank you for all the help you've given to us!~"

Froslass bowed. "It's my pleasure, sweetheart. An old lady such as myself is always willing to help."

Sylveon smiled before turning to the rest of the group and nodding, heading out the door and into the snowy landscape.

* * *

"So, Fire Boy, what seems to be the problem? Why're you so serious all of a sudden?"

"Melvin, I think I just need to sit you down and really explain why I care so much about my friends."

Melvin groaned and leaned back. "Ugh, you have _got_ to be kidding me… I'm not in the mood to hear another one of your speeches about how much you love your friends! I get it, you're popular and everyone loves you, stop rubbing it in my face!"

"Melvin… When I first washed up on that beach so long ago, I was so confused… I had no idea what was going on. I was suddenly a Pokemon of all things, and I had no idea what was happening! It was all so weird… But then this group found me washed up on a beach. They… legitimately cared about me. They took me in, treated me as though I've known them for almost my entire life… It was odd, but it almost felt like it was the first time I've felt like that in a long while…"

Melvin closed his eyes. "...And is that why you're so attracted to Glaceon? Because of all the time she spent helping you?"

Flareon nodded. "Well, at least partially. I do think she's really cute… And she's super fun to be around. She just… makes me happy, I suppose. In a way that nobody else really does."

Melvin chuckled. "I dunno man… That Vaporeon chick has a pretty sweet ass~"

Flareon looked shocked and growled at Melvin. "Dude, what is wrong with you?!"

Melvin chuckled. "Hey, come on, I'm just giving me opinion here! If I was you, I'd _definitely_ go for her."

Flareon narrowed his eyes. "Well, you're not, so we're not going for her."

"Well I mean, _technically_ I _am_ you, so…"

Flareon groaned. "Look, can we get back on topic?"

Melvin leaned back, a serious expression plastered on his face. "No worries, Floofer. I understand where you're coming from. You built up these attachments and you wanna keep em safe, I get that. I won't interfere in the future, but what _you_ have to understand is that we share this body, and I'd like to keep on living, so if you could refrain from risking your life like that again, that'd be nice…"

Flareon smiled and nodded. "Alright, fine, you've got yourself a deal."

Melvin turned back towards the doors to each of their respective minds. "Y'know… I've been meaning to tell you. Your room has started glowing recently, and I'm not exactly sure what that means."

Flareon looked confused and got up, walking towards his room. "Huh, you're right… That's weird."

Melvin got up and walked next to him. "Y'know, maybe the room is starting to reveal some of your past memories."

Flareon cringed as he heard that, looking down and closing his eyes.

Melvin looked confused. "Huh? What's with that look? Are you not happy with learning what happened to you?"

"No… I mean yes… I mean… Look, it's just hard, okay? I've built up this life here and now I might be learning what my past is all about. It's a bit… conflicting."

Melvin nodded and turned back towards the door. "Well, in my opinion, it's at least better to know than to not. Look, let's just go in there and see what we can find, okay?"

Flareon nodded and swallowed, opening the door and beginning his search for some memories.

* * *

"I can't believe that she honestly expects me to follow orders from _you_." Jolteon sneered on that last word as looked right ahead at Sylveon, who was currently leading the group towards the castle in the distance.

Sylveon looked back at him with an equally displeased expression. "Jolteon, sweetie, if you have a problem with me leading the group, you can turn around and head back to the others. We, however, are going to continue on."

Vaporeon groaned and shook her head. "And here goes the married couple, continuing their bickering over who wears the pants in the relationship…"

"Vaporeon, for the last time, we are _not_ dating, and we _never_ will! Now, if you all don't mind, we're about to reach the castle, so I'd _appreciate_ if you could please just focus!" Sylveon huffed and turned forward.

Jolteon sighed and frowned, looking legitimately upset at what she just said. "Y-Yeah, whatever. N-Not like… I care…"

Glaceon and Leafeon noticed this and started to get sad. Leafeon was the first to comment on it. "Poor Jolteon… He just got rejected in such a harsh way…"

Glaceon nodded in agreement. "Poor guy just wants to be noticed by Sylveon… Even if he said some mean things, I still feel a little bad…"

Sylveon frowned and looked down at her feet as she marched forward. _Mm… Maybe I was a bit too harsh on him… I'm sure he didn't mean what he said before… But he's just so rude! Why can't he just acknowledge the fact that I'm just as good of a leader as he is? Ooo, I'm getting angry again just thinking about it!_

The group trudged forward towards the castle, the building getting closer and closer with every step.

* * *

Meanwhile, Espeon was working on some tea for Flareon. With the assistance of Umbreon and Froslass, she was able to make the perfect drink for Flareon to sip up.

"Aaaand done! Alright, this should be great for Flareon's hypothermia…" She handed Umbreon the drink, who quickly brought it over to Flareon. Froslass thanked him and picked up the cup, helping Flareon drink it down.

 _So, do you really trust Sylveon with leading the group? I mean, you saw what happened with her and Jolteon… seemed to be a lot of tension there._

 _Oh, don't worry Umbreon, that's just how they show that they care about each other._

 _That… is a very weird way of saying "I love you". Sylveon doesn't really strike me as the type to be like that._

 _Well, you know how it is… Everyone's so embarrassed to say that they love each other nowadays… It's honestly kinda sad when you think about it. They really should just come out and say it at this point._

 _I suppose, but… I still can't shake off the feeling._

Espeon walked up to him and put a paw on his shoulder. _Umbreon, it's fine. I know she was always the flirtatious one when we were younger, but I think spending all this time with Jolteon has really let her change. She feels more like a mother now than a flirty girl._

 _Mm… I suppose you're right. We'll just have to wait and see how it goes._

"So… Um… Apologies for… interrupting? You two have been staring at each other for a while, is there something I'm missing?" Froslass hovered over to the two, looking awfully confused.

Espeon blushed a bit as she stepped forward to explain. "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to explain… You see, Umbreon here is mute, and so he can't communicate with other people… So the way he and I communicate is that I read his mind and then project my own thoughts into his head so we can speak. It's actually pretty nifty."

Froslass seems to have understood it and nodded her head. "Ah, I see… That is pretty convenient."

Espeon nodded and looked behind Froslass to the Fluff Ball himself, who was now sleeping much more peacefully. "So… Is Flareon doing alright?"

Froslass nodded. "He should be. He's not shaking anymore, and his breathing has returned mostly to normal, though he's still going to need lots of rest."

Espeon smiled. "That's… good to hear. He really did give us quite the scare…"

Froslass turned back to her with an inquisitive look on her face. "That… reminds me… How did he even get into this position in the first place? There really aren't that many experienced fighters out here… We're mostly isolated so there's no reason to train."

Espeon bit her lip. "Well… We ended up running into an Articuno on the way in. Flareon here ended up taking it down, but he took the full force of Articuno's Blizzard as he did."

Froslass's eyes widened as she heard that little story. "What?! Why in blazes were you fighting our land's guardian?!"

Espeon's expression dropped. "Guard… i…. An…?"

Froslass frowned. "Yes, our guardian. Articuno has protected this land for many a generation! If he attacked you, then…" Froslass thought on it before her pupils shrunk. "Oh… Oh no…"

Espeon started to freak out a little. "Um… Ma'am? Ma'am, what's wrong? Why're you acting like that?"

Froslass turned to Espeon with a grim expression on her face. "I… I should tell you something. The current king of this land right now is Vanilluxe. And I am his Grandmother. Every time something important happens, I am one of the first to know about it."

Espeon looked at her in surprise. "Wow… Someone of royal blood…"

Froslass nodded. "Indeed. My line has been on top of the Ice Kingdom for many a generation… But there is one other family that has served along with us: another family of Froslasses who are like seers. They predict the future and use that knowledge to help keep the outside world away. Recently, a terrifying omen was given to us… That a powerful group of strangers would come and threaten to overthrow our government and send it into turmoil… And so, the warning was passed to all the important figures. Myself, and most likely Articuno as well."

Espeon came to a realization. "Articuno must've thought that we were the evil group… That must be why it attacked us."

"I believe you are correct, Espeon. However, that also provides an even more pressing problem… If you all defeated Articuno, that must mean that he's still injured… And that there's no one protecting the border."

* * *

"Heh! Not so high and mighty, are you birdy?!" Weavile stomped his foot on Articuno's head, grinding it in a little bit.

"Weavile, Articuno is already passed out. Why're you stomping on its head?" Bisharp gave his partner a confused expression.

"This little fucker thinks he's soooo great, being a legendary ice type and all… But he got beat up but that dumb little Eevee squad!" Weavile looked smug as he crossed his arms.

Bisharp, meanwhile, was less than impressed. "Look, I hate to bring this up, but our track record against them isn't amazing either."

Weavile turned to Bisharp as if he was hurt. "Whaaaaat? Come ooooon, we've done great so far!"

Bisharp sighed and turned to him. "We lost to them at the abandoned town, y'know, before they had even absorbed any power from the Green Orb Shards. _Then_ we lost to them _again_ when we invaded, even _with_ that reanimated Arcanine on our side. And then we fought them again, but this time it was just 2 on 2, and we _still_ lost."

Weavile huffed and turned away. "Have it your way, party pooper… Sheesh."

Bisharp sighed and shook his head. "You're unbelievable. Let's just focus on our mission, okay?"

Weavile shrugged and kept walking. "Ugh, fine, whatever. Do you even know where we're going?"

Bisharp looked confused as he turned to Weavile. "What're you talking about? This is _your_ home kingdom. You're the one who should be leading the way."

"Dude, it's been like… 5 years since I've last been here, I dunno where everything is…"

Bisharp's eye started to twitch as he felt rage build up inside of him. "You _told_ me you knew this place like the back of your hand! The only reason I brought you here was for that exact reason!"

Weavile stuck his tongue out and put his hands behind the back of his head. "Well, guess I just lied to you then~ But don't get all upset, I'm sure if we just follow the Green Orb Shard readings, we'll be able to find them."

Bisharp sighed and shook his head. "Y'know what? Fine. Just follow the readings."

Weavile nodded and started heading forward.

* * *

"So you're saying that this entire land is open to invasion? Then we have to warn somebody!"

"I agree, but we don't know how much time we have. Besides, someone has to stay here and take care of Flareon."

Espeon grimaced as she looked back at Flareon, but shook her head and looked back at Froslass. "Flareon is fine here, but the people at the castle might not be. We should all go and prepare for the worst."

Froslass wanted to protest but gave up and sighed. "I suppose we don't have any time to argue this. Come on, you two. We need to hurry."

Espeon and Umbreon nodded as they ran out of the hut, going as quickly as they could towards the castle.

* * *

As the Eevee Pack walked up to the castle, two Alolan Sandslashes blocked the entrance. "Halt. Who is it that tries to enter the Castle of the Ice Kingdom?"

Sylveon cleared her throat and stepped up to the guards. "My name is Sylveon, and these are my friends. We need some help, and we'd like to request an audience with your King."

The right guard shook his head. "Sorry miss, but only people with royal permission are allowed to have an audience with the King."

Sylveon looked shocked. "Wh-What? But sir, the fate of the world depends on-"

The other guard shook his head. "And now you're just being over dramatic. Now, please run along, or else we'll start having to use force…"

"No, I demand that you let us in. Our audience with the king is important." The group turned back to see Froslass, Umbreon, and Espeon walk up.

The Sandslashes immediately tensed up. "L-Lady Froslass! W-We didn't expect you to come so soon! Please, enter."

The Sandslashes pulled open the doors, motioning for the Group to enter as they trotted in. The other Eevees turned back to Espeon and Umbreon, but Vaporeon was the first to speak up. "Why are you guys here? And who is helping Flareon?"

Espeon was about to answer, but Froslass shushed her and shook her head. "We will tell you in a moment. We have to go talk to the King first, but we will tell you everything in due time."

After a little bit of walking, the Group was shown into the royal chamber, as a Vanilluxe hovered over the throne. The Vanilluxe smiled as he saw Froslass, hovering down to her with a happy expression. "Grandmother, how nice it is to see you once more! We were not expecting you, especially on such short notice." The two heads of the Vanilluxe talked in unison.

Froslass, however, merely shook her head. "I'm sorry, my grandson, but unfortunately I cannot afford to share such pleasantries with you. The Ice Kingdom is in dire straits, and I've come to warn you."

Vanilluxe was a bit surprised at her words. "You've come to warn us? But have we not served well as King? We were under the impression that the Ice Kingdom was in great condition."

"It's not about your status as King, it's about the omen. Articuno mistook this group of Eeveelutions for the evil group mentioned in the prophecy, and was defeated in battle. Now I fear that the true evildoers will be on our ground in very little time…"

After she said that, a guard quickly rushed into the room. "Y-Your Majesty, pardon the interruption, but there's a large army marching down the hill as we speak!"

The Eevee Pack looked shocked at that news, but Vanilluxe's expression hardened. "Go gather the army, and anyone who can fight." The guard nodded and ran off as Vanilluxe started hovering to the door. "Grandma, take the Eeveelutions down and prepare them for battle."

Froslass floated towards him. "B-But Vanilluxe, how-"

"Our days of solitude are over, Grandma. I believe it's time we finally show the world what we're capable of. If they're expecting an easy battle, they are sorely mistaken!"

 **End of Chapter 21**

 **Whoo! That was quite a bit of work, but I hoped you all enjoyed it! I've recently been diagnosed with depression, and so it's been a long while to try and get on track with that. Luckily, I'm currently taking medication, so I should be good to go with this story! Anyways, if you liked the story, make sure to Follow/Favorite it, and leave a Review if there's anything you wanna tell me! That's all for now, catch you later!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey hey hey everyone! Wow, 4 months since the last chapter release…? Yikes, I really need to get better about writing these things… Either way, this has been a long time coming, so I hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 22: The Cold War

"Vanilluxe, you can't honestly expect us to go to war, can you? We're still rebuilding from the great calamity, we can't-"

Vanilluxe interrupted her. "We can and we must. Not only do we have a responsibility to these Eeveelutions to help them on their quest, but we also must make a statement that the Ice Kingdom will not fold to any sign of opposition!" Vanilluxe floated off to go and organize his army, an angry look on both of his faces.

Froslass sighed as she floated over to the Eevee Pack. "I'm sorry, my dear friends… But it looks like conflict has washed over our lands… It'd be best if you all stay in here while we repel the enemy."

Jolteon raised an eyebrow and stepped forward. "You mean have you guys fight while we run away with our tail between our legs? Not a chance!"

Vaporeon stepped forward as well. "Jolteon is right, we're not just gonna leave you here to fight our battles. We're going out there with you."

Froslass smiled and nodded at the group. "Thank you, my friends. We would greatly appreciate if you could help us out in this struggle. I'm afraid we need all the help we can get…"

Before the group could continue their conversation, an explosion could be heard from outside as everyone stumbled to the ground. As they were getting up, an Alolan Sandslash ran into the room. "Th-The enemy is attacking!"

Froslass got back up and her expression became grim. "I suppose the time has come… The end of the Ice Kingdom."

* * *

"Y'know, we don't have to do this, Hot Head. You can remain blissfully unaware of your past and keep trucking along."

"Melvin, you know I can't do that. What if there's something important in my past? I have to know what I was like." Flareon, followed closely by Melvin, walked into the mind room of Flareon. In there was a long, winding room, filled with many different rooms. "Wow… so this is my mind room?"

Melvin nodded. "Very disorganized. It's probably because of your amnesia, I wouldn't worry about it. We need to find any room that has light shining from behind the door. Those are the ones that have restored memories behind them."

Flareon raised an eyebrow and looked at him. "How… Do you know that?"

Melvin chuckled. "Well, when you lack your own physical body and the person using it stops talking to you, you get a little… bored, so to speak."

Flareon gave him the stink eye. "So you spent your time looking through my mind room? How would _that_ cure your boredom?"

Melvin laughed. "Are you kidding me? There's some juicy stuff back here! Like, apparently when you were a human, you played this children's card game called… Yu-Gi-Oh? Or something like that. Honestly it looked pretty fun, I should learn how to play that game."

Flareon rolled his eyes and started walking up a flight of stairs. "Whatever, let's just start looking."

Melvin nodded and went in an opposite direction, beginning his search for any potential memories to find.

* * *

The Eevee Group, lead by an anxious Froslass, walked out in front of the castle to see a horrifying sight. A brutal battle was occuring, with both sides taking harsh casualties as they wasted no time.

Glaceon hesitated a bit as she saw the battlefield. "Th-This is… horrible…"

Froslass closed her eyes, trying to gauge the situation. "We're drastically outnumbered… There's no way we could've prepared for an attack on this magnitude." She reopened her eyes and scanned the battlefield herself. "And it seems like they were prepared themselves. There are many Steel and Ice types among their ranks. How could their Ice ranks be larger than our own?"

Jolteon took a step forward and grit his teeth. "I don't know, but I'm not gonna sit back and watch! Come on guys, time to kick some ass!"

"Wait, no, we need a pl-" But it was too late. Before Froslass could try and stop him, Jolteon had already rushed into the battle, firing off a Thunderbolt that sent a squad of enemies flying. Froslass sighed and turned to the rest of the group. "Here, before the battle begins, you should take this." Froslass reached into her satchel and handed the group a sparking Green Orb shard.

Espeon looked shocked as Froslass showed them the shard. "Wh- How did you get this?"

Froslass closed her eyes, a wave of sorrow washing over her. "It's… the reason we're so far in the hole in terms of strength. It was the cause of the Great Calamity, an illness that swept over our land and killed thousands, nay millions in its wake. We were eventually able to track the cause back to this shard, but by then it was far too late. But since you all are trying to collect them, I feel it would be better off in your hands."

Glaceon nodded and took the shard, putting it in Flareon's bag. "Thank you, ma'am."

Leafeon looked a little confused. "Wait… Since when did you have Flareon's bag with you?"

Glaceon raised an eyebrow and turned to Leafeon. "What do you mean? I've had it with me the entire time."

"...Huh."

Espeon shook her head. "Look guys, it doesn't matter. We need to go out there and fight before Jolteon does something stupid."

Sylveon rolled her eyes and stepped forward. "Sweetie, it's far too late for that…"

The group all ran off to join the battle as Froslass looked on in fear. "Please, my friends… Stay strong. We're all counting on you…"

* * *

It had been a solid ten minutes of searching, and so far, Flareon hadn't found any doors that had shining light behind it. "Melvin, are you sure you found something back here? We've been searching for a while and we've found absolutely nothing…"

Melvin shushed him as he checked a couple of doors. "Flareon, this isn't supposed to be easy, you have to trust me." Melvin looked over and finally found a shining door. "Hey, Mr. Impatient, I found something!"

Flareon's ears perked up as he ran over to check. He and Melvin stood in front of the door, and Flareon reached up to slowly open it.

 _Memory Begin:_

 _It had been 3 days since the cruise had set sail. It was about 2:00 PM, and weather had been crummy all day. The scene saw a boy, playing on his DS as he seemed to be content with the situation. He was humming a little song before he heard on knock on his door. He closed his DS and went to the door, opening it up and seeing an older woman at the door._

" _Hi sweetie, did you wanna come swimming with us? Your father and your sister really wanted to do it, and we'd appreciate it if you came."_

 _The teenage boy nodded, smiling. "Sure thing, Mom. Lemme just change and I'll be right out there."_

 _Right as the older woman was about to leave, a voice could be heard on the PA system. "Attention travelers, harsh weather conditions in this area is causing a hazard to outdoor facilities. For your safety, we ask that you all remain in doors until we pass through the storm. We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause you, and we will inform you as soon as it's safe to traverse the ship once more."_

 _The mother clicked her tongue and looked back at the boy. "Well, so much for that… I'm gonna go get your Father and your Sister, I'll be right back."_

 _The boy nodded as the older woman left. He returned to his bed and popped open his DS, continuing to click away as he looked at that tiny screen. However, not long after, the boat started to shake wildly. He stopped what he was doing and looked around, panicking as the boat rocked back and forth. A lightning crack could be heard, and he could hear panic from outside the room. The boy ran up to the window and noticed that the boat was descending into the water. Now he was really freaking out, and he ran out of his room to try and figure out what was going on._

 _Memory End_

Flareon and Melvin stepped out of the room, a horrified expression on Flareon's face as he looked down at the ground. "That… that must've been when I got shipwrecked… And how I ended up here…"

Melvin bit his lip and walked towards him. "I… Geez, I don't know what to say to that…"

Flareon shook his head. "And… that woman… That must've been my mother. She seemed so nice, so genuine…"

Melvin closed his eyes and started walking away. "I think that's enough for now. We should head back and just try to clear our heads, okay? No use dwelling on it for longer than we need to."

Flareon frowned, but nodded and started following after Melvin.

* * *

"Psychic!" Espeon lifted up 5 soldiers and threw them away with her powers. "Geez, Froslass wasn't kidding when she said we were outnumbered… This is ridiculous…"

Jolteon blasted another group of Pokemon as he stepped back. "You take down one group, and two more start to swarm you!"

"Well then, if you're getting tired of fighting the goons, why don't you go for the commanders?" The group heard a familiar voice behind them and groaned as they saw who it was.

"Oh look, it's Dumb and Dumber… Can't you guys take a hint? You two need to get lost!" Vaporeon looked especially angry as she stared the two down.

Bisharp took a step forward and activated his arm blades. "Apologies, but the only ones who will be getting lost is you lot. We've improved dramatically since our last encounter."

Jolteon laughed. "Are you kidding me? You lost to just Flareon and myself! You honestly think you two have improved to where you could beat all of us? What a joke."

Weavile smirked. "Well you see, Sparky, it's not just us anymore! We have a secret weapon."

Bisharp lifted up a remote control of sorts and clicked the button. "In fact, here he comes now…" From the skies, a giant bird swooped down and landed on the ground, a strange green spark surrounding his body as he looked at the group.

Glaceon's eyes widened as she took a step back. "Wh-What? No, that… That can't be real…"

Espeon was just as surprised as her as looked up at the Pokemon who stared them down. "...Articuno…"

"Thaaaat's right, maggots! Your favorite guardian is now being used against you! Articuno, crush them!" Weavile pointed to the group as Articuno charged up a Blizzard, firing it at the group as they were all blown back.

Vaporeon staggered to her feet and stared the beast down. "Guys, this is not good… We couldn't beat this thing with all of our power, and now we don't have Flareon with us!"

Jolteon got up and grit his teeth. "Don't even say that! We have to fight, we don't have a choice! Otherwise we're just leaving these people for dead!" Jolteon sprung into action and fired off a Thunderbolt, making direct contact with Articuno.

The rest of the group followed suit, getting up and firing their attacks, hoping that one of them would be able to deal a significant blow. However, all of them didn't do much, and a Hurricane from Articuno blew them back down to the ground. They rolled across the ground, leaving a track of snow in their wake as they struggled to get up. Glaceon looked up at the mighty bird, gritting her teeth as she fought against the pain coursing through her body.

 _Flareon… We need you…._

* * *

Flareon's ears perked up. He looked around, a confused expression on his face as he tried to find the source of the noise. "Huh… Melvin, did you hear that?"

Melvin looked over at Flareon, giving him a weird look. "Huh? Look buddy, I know what you saw was traumatic and all, but I don't think it's enough to make you start hearing things…"

Flareon shook his head. "No no, I legitimately heard something… Like someone was calling out to me…"

 _They're just too strong for us. I'm sorry we're letting you down._

Melvin seemed to hear that one. Flareon perked up as he tried his best to respond. "Glaceon! Glaceon, is that you? What's going on out there?"

Glaceon's eyes shot open. She got up, turning left and right as she looked around for Flareon. _F-Flareon? I-Is that you?_

 _Yeah, it's me. How did you reach out to me? Do you have Psychic powers all of a sudden?_

 _N-No, I… Well, I don't know…_

 _Look, that doesn't matter right now. Are you okay? What's going on out there?_

Glaceon sighed. _Flareon, I… I'm sorry. The enemy army brought back Articuno and we just can't beat it without you… I'm sorry…_

 _Glaceon, don't you dare say that!_ Glaceon was a bit shocked. _You guys are plenty strong enough to take that bird down. You're the strongest person I know!_

 _B-But… It's a legendary! We barely beat it with everyone together, how are we supposed to do it without you?_

 _Glaceon, think. You have the power inside you to take down Articuno, but you keep bringing yourself down. I've seen you in fights before, and I know you have the ability. The only thing stopping you is your own self doubt._

 _My… self doubt?_ Glaceon put a determined look onto her face, gritting her teeth as she stared down the Articuno. _I can… I can feel the power coursing through my body!_

 _Yes, that's it, Glaceon! Now go wreck some shit!_

Glaceon put on a very uncharacteristic smirk as she charged the giant bird, jumping up above it as she charged up an attack.

"THIS IS FOR FLAREOOOOOOOOOOON!"

 **Glaceon used Freezer Burn!**

Glaceon fired off an enormous mix of snow and flames, causing Articuno's body temperature to fluctuate rapidly as it was simultaneously burned and frozen. Its body couldn't hold up for long as it eventually collapsed due to the pressure of the attack. Glaceon landed on the ground perfectly, panting as the green sparks started to die down around her body. Once she had caught her breath, she turned around to see the shocked face of her companions staring at her as the rest of the enemy army scampered away.

"Uh uh, no way am I sticking around for that! That girl is _crazy!_ She's your problem now, Flareon!" Weavile scampered away, with Bisharp not too far behind.

Glaceon smiled at the group, giggling as she started walking towards them. "Mm, was that a bit too much?~"

Leafeon tapped Sylveon's shoulder and leaned forward to whisper to her. "Note to self: Don't try to pull jokes on her when she and Flareon are dating."

Sylveon giggled. "My my, sweet little Glaceon has grown into such a powerful young woman~ I'm so proud of you, sweetheart~"

Glaceon huffed and smirked at the group. "That's right! And I don't want any of you forgetting it!"

Espeon looked a little confused. "Wait a minute… That's weird. Why did your attack have Fire in it? Everyone else has had single type moves, and yet you had fire involved in yours."

Glaceon was taken aback by Espeon's question. She turned away, blushing a tiny bit as she looked around. "Oh! Um… Well, I… Hm…."

Leafeon chuckled and turned to the group. "Come on guys, isn't it obvious? It's because she just loves Flareon sooooooo much that he became a part of her special move~"

Glaceon's expression quickly turned to one of annoyance as she smacked Leafeon with her tail, sending her flying into a pile of snow as she landed in with a "poof".

"Alright, that's enough outta you, Leafeon. Come on guys, let's go back to the hut. It's been a long day…"

Vaporeon nodded and started walking away first. "Ugh, tell me about it… I'm just straight up sick of this cold. Maybe the next shard will be at a beach?"

Sylveon cooed at the suggestion. "Oh my, that sounds absolutely lovely~ I sure hope you're right, Vappy~"

As the group walked away, Jolteon looked on with a look of contempt. _Now even Glaceon has her powers unlocked… Everyone seems to be contributing in one way or another. But where does that leave me? The butt of every joke… No one trusts me… Not even Sylveon wants me around._

"Jolteon, sweetie, are you coming?" Responding to the sound of Sylveon's voice, Jolteon looked up and quickly nodded, running through the snow as he caught up with the group.

Froslass floated forward a bit, still in shock over the attack she had just seen. She turned back to King Vanilluxe, who was equally shocked as his grandmother was.

"Th… That attack. Could that be…?"

Froslass nodded. "Freezer Burn. The attack we've been looking for for generations… Who would've thought that we'd see it here?"

Vanilluxe floated over to her. "Grandmother, we need her to fulfill the final prophecy. It's the only way to save our land from this plague…"

Froslass swallowed, but quickly nodded as she tried to catch up to the group.

* * *

"Well well well, look who got herself an awesome new move?"

Glaceon flinched quite a bit as she heard that voice, running into the hut and almost tackling Flareon with a hug. "Flareon! Oh Arceus, you're okay! You need to stop scaring me with these close calls…"

Flareon chuckled and shook his head. "Sorry Glacey, but I'm alright now… I promise I won't do something like that to you again, okay?"

Vaporeon chuckled a bit. "Well, y'know, I don't think it's gonna be you protecting her anymore, big guy. She looked pretty tough out there!"

Flareon chuckled as he hopped out of the bed. "Yeah, now that you mention it, that attack was frightening. Who would've thought that sweet little Glaceon could do so much damage?"

Glaceon blushed and turned away. "Aw, Flareon, you're too kind~"

The two of them chuckled a bit as the others let out a "Dawwwww". Flareon huffed and rolled his eyes.

"Oh please, all of you would do the same thing, don't lie."

Jolteon laughed a bit and shook his head. "Flareon, only men who fall victim to the charms of women would do that. I, myself, am an independent man! I don't need a woman in order to go through my daily routines."

Sylveon smirked and looked over at Jolteon. "More like you couldn't find someone who can put up with you, so you just ride Flareon's coattails all over the place~"

Jolteon's eye twitched a little bit as he looked over at Sylveon. "What was that?! How dare you! I'm more than capable of finding a mate if I wanted to!"

Vaporeon groaned and face palmed. "Ugh, my ARCEUS they're doing it again! Do these two _ever_ let up?"

Leafeon sighed. "I dunno guys… Maybe those two just legitimately hate each other. I don't think couples are supposed to fight this much…"

Flareon just smiled and shook his head. "Nah, I know they still care about each other. They just need to figure out how to properly express it."

However, the bickering would not be allowed to last too long, as the door to the hut swung open, revealing Froslass to the group.

"Hello, um… Sorry to barge in, but there's something important that I need from you all."

Espeon looked at her with a confused expression. "Something important? Is there another army coming?"

Froslass shook her head. "No. But there is another prophecy. One that only Glaceon can fulfill."

 **End of Chapter 22**

 **Hoo boy, sorry this took so long guys… Been a real busy couple of months for me. Either way, I hope you enjoyed! Make sure to leave a review, as I'd really appreciate any constructive criticism you all have! Adios, and have a great day!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey everyone! I hope today is treating you well so far. It's good to finally be working on this again, especially since writer's block can hit me like a truck sometimes. Either way, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!**

Chapter 23: A Story of Nine Tales

"Oh sweetheart, you look drop dead gorgeous~ You look just like royalty~"

Glaceon looked at herself in the body mirror as the Amaura lauded her with praise.

"Er… thanks."

Glaceon frowned a bit as she shifted around. The people at the castle had given her this dress to wear, and she… didn't know how to think of it. Of course, she was flattered to have received it, that wasn't the issue. The issue is that it was a little… too much. It was a nice sky blue, and it flowed down her body nicely. They even had a nice little crown for her to wear, which was a nice touch. But it just seemed… extra? She looked amazing in it, she wasn't gonna lie. But Flareon didn't seem like the type to care about royal clothing much at all.

"...Miss Glaceon, do you not like it? I think you look stunning in it!"

Glaceon turned to her and quickly shook her head. "Oh, no, not at all! I absolutely love it. It's just… a lot to take in."

 _Especially since it had all happened so suddenly…_

==== Flashback ====

" _Glaceon, we need you to fulfill one last prophecy for us. One that has existed for as long as this kingdom has…"_

 _Glaceon blinked a bit in confusion. "...Huh? You need me? Why would I be the one to fulfill this prophecy?"_

" _...Freezer Burn."_

 _Glaceon looked back at the rest of the group with a confused expression, but Espeon perked up and stepped in. "Wait a moment, I think I know about this prophecy. But most record books just dismissed it as myth. Is it truly a prophecy?"_

 _Froslass nodded. "It's what the entire land is founded upon. It says that the one who can master the power of Fire and Ice would be the one to unlock the power of the land. Only then will the world be able to heal."_

 _Glaceon bit her lip. "And… The move that I used to defeat Articuno… Is that the power that the prophecy talks about?"_

 _Froslass nodded her head once more. "Precisely. At least, that's what the king seems to think. We originally thought that the Alolan Ninetales family would produce the one spoken of in the prophecy considering their original type, but after we saw that battle, we knew you had to be the one the prophecy was talking about."_

 _Leafeon stepped forward. "Wait a minute, that still doesn't explain what you need Glaceon for. She already mastered both, right? Then why do you still need here?"_

 _Froslass sighed. "There's… a trial. The power of the land refers to an ancient artifact that's sealed away in the Ruins of Kyurem. Glaceon must go through the challenges in those ruins in order to achieve the power it speaks of."_

 _Jolteon chuckled and stepped forward. "Oh, please! That should be easy enough. Glaceon took down an Articuno by herself! Not to mention, she has all of us to help out."_

" _I don't think so. Not only will this trial test different skills than raw strength, you all will not be able to accompany her. Glaceon must do this alone."_

 _Everyone was surprised at that, though Flareon was the first to respond. "Wait… We can't go with her? Glaceon has to do it alone?"_

 _Glaceon looked back at Flareon with a worried expression, and Flareon gave her the same one back._

" _I'm sorry, but the prophecy says that she must go in alone. Otherwise she will not be able to receive the power of the land."_

 _Flareon bit his lip as he turned away. "It's fine. Glaceon's tough. She'll be completely fine on her own."_

 _Glaceon couldn't help but smile a bit at that, but it quickly disappeared as she turned back to Froslass. "Alright. In that case, I accept."_

" _Marvelous. Now then, let's head over to the regional castle near the ruins. We have to make sure you're wearing the ceremonious clothes."_

 _Froslass hovered out of the hut, with Glaceon giving one last look back to the group before leaving. Once she was out of sight, Flareon sighed and slumped down onto the bed._

" _Aaaaaand great, she's gone again… I can't even have 5 minutes with her before something pops up."_

 _Leafeon shrugged her shoulders and walked over to him. "Don't worry, big guy. Once this is all over, you'll get to have as much time with her as you want! And you… hehe… You can even-"_

 _Before Leafeon could finish that sentence, Sylveon grabbed her tail with her feelers and lifted Leafeon away. "Alright, sweetie, that's enough. It's clear that Flareon's a little lovesick right now." She put Leafeon down and walked over to Flareon. "Don't worry, Flareon. I'm sure she'd love to spend time with you if she could, but this is important."_

 _Flareon sighed and hopped off the bed. "Yeah, I know that. It's just frustrating, y'know? Feels like we haven't had quality time together in years."_

 _Espeon sighed and looked down. "Well, maybe if you hadn't gone into the tournament and spent the day with her then, maybe you wouldn't feel that way…"_

 _Flareon was a bit taken aback by this. "W-What? That wasn't my choice! I only did it cause we needed the money! Besides, she wasn't even watching me for most of the match… I wonder why that was? Maybe she doesn't like me that much after all…"_

 _Leafeon was starting to get nervous. She looked away, a guilty expression on her face as she started stuttering a bit. "Y-Yeah… I wonder what was up with that…"_

 _Flareon shook his head and started walking out of the hut. "Whatever. We don't have time to think about that. We need to get a move on."_

 _Vaporeon raised her eyebrow as she moved to cut him off. "Get a move on? To where? You're not thinking of following her into the ruins, are you? Froslass specifically said NOT to do that."_

" _I'm not gonna follow her into the ruins, I just wanna make sure she's okay before she goes in. It wouldn't feel right to just sit back here while she risks her life for this."_

 _Sylveon nodded and followed after Flareon. "Flareon's right. We should go support Glaceon, even if we can't do it directly. I'm sure she'd appreciate it, right?"_

 _Leafeon beamed and nodded her head. "Yeah! I know if I had to go alone, I'd definitely want to have you guys there to help me get ready. Let's do it!"_

 _Jolteon sighed and shook his head. "Great, Flareon gets his 5 minutes of leading until he goes into another coma…"_

 _Flareon grit his teeth and fired a Flamethrower at Jolteon, completely charing his face. "Just shut your mouth and start moving! We've got a lot of ground to cover."_

 _Jolteon coughed a bit as the smoke cleared. "Y-Yes sir…"_

==== End Flashback ====

Amaura nodded her head as she turned to the door. "Yes, I imagine so… It's a big responsibility that you carry on your shoulders, I imagine."

Glaceon nodded as she, too, headed for the door. "Yeah… But I can handle it. It's not so much the responsibility… More so being separated from my friends."

"Ah, yes… That must be tough. You've been traveling with them for a while, I can't imagine it'd be easy for you to leave them easily…"

Glaceon nodded and opened the door. "It's not, but I'll be okay. Now then, shall we continue getting ready?"

Amaura quickly nodded and scrambled to where Glaceon was. "Y-Yes ma'am! Right away!"

* * *

Flareon paced around in the foyer, staring down at the ground as he moved from left to right. Jolteon sighed at his antics.

"Dude, I get that you're worried, but she hasn't even gone into the ruins yet! Where are you _already_ pacing around?"

Flareon sent Jolteon a death glare. "I'm just thinking, okay dude?! I've been in a come for the past 6 hours, lay off!"

Jolteon rolled his eyes and looked over at the statues of Alolan Ninetales that lined the room. "This place sure likes its Ninetales… They have statues of em all over the place."

Espeon nodded. "Well, this area is ruled by a royal line of Ninetales, after all. It makes sense that they'd laud them in this area."

Vaporeon clicked her tongue. "Doesn't make it look any less tacky. I mean seriously, they look so smug up there…"

Two Alolan Sandslashes opened the door from across the room, bowing down as the one on the right started to speak. "The preparations are finished. We now welcome Lady Glaceon out here as she prepares to take on the trials of the Kyurem Ruins."

The entire Eevee Group looked towards the doors as Glaceon stepped out, fully clothed in her dress and crown. She smiled at the group as she stepped out, look at them with a look of happiness. "Hey guys… How do I look?~"

Before any of them could respond, blood burst out of Flareon's nose, the heat rushing to his face as he fainted and fell onto the floor. Sylveon walked over to Flareon, hovering over him as she stifled some laughter. "Oh my… Looks like somebody likes how you look~ Well, maybe a little… too much, hehe~"

The rest of the group started laughing a bit, but Glaceon blushed like crazy and turned away. _O-Oh wow… Okay, maybe he does care about that stuff…_

However, their antics were interrupted as an Alolan Ninetales and Alolan Vulpix walked into the room. They both bowed as they passed by Glaceon before addressing her friends. "Everyone, please step out of the way. We must be going, so please move this fool out of the way for us."

Glaceon grit her teeth a little at that statement, and the rest of the group didn't seem all too pleased either. However, Sylveon wrapped her feelers around Flareon and moved him out of the way as the three ice types passed by. Flareon groaned, waking up as the trio left the building, heading off towards the ruins. Flareon looked around a bit, confused as to what just happened.

"What the… Huh? What just happened?"

Vaporeon snickered and walked towards him. "Buddy, you fainted once you saw Glaceon in her dress! I knew you were a sucker for her, but good Arceus that was just pathetic!"

Sylveon scoffed. "Oh, Vaporeon, hush now. I thought it was really cute~"

Leafeon nodded in agreement. "Yeah! Flareon's just… showing his appreciation for her! In… his own little way…"

Espeon giggled herself. "Well, surely all guys would do that if someone they cared about came in looking like that, right?"

Umbreon raised an eyebrow and tapped her on the shoulder. _Espeon, I'm pretty sure that's not a normal reaction to seeing a special someone looking beautiful._

 _Look, I know that, but I'm sure Flareon's feeling embarrassed right now. We should lay off of him for a bit._

Jolteon seemed… oddly quiet during this whole discussion. Sylveon noticed this and turned to him. "Hey…. Jolty? You're awfully quiet over there. Is something the matter?"

Jolteon was brought out of his own thoughts as he heard the sound of Sylveon's voice. He turned to her and shook his head. "Oh… No, it's not much. Just… That Ninetales rubbed me the wrong way. I don't think she has very good intentions."

Espeon nodded her head. "I didn't get the chance to read her mind, but I do agree. She definitely isn't the nicest person around…"

 _Yo, Fluff Ball, I'm pretty sure they're right. That woman is gonna do something nasty._ Flareon perked up as he heard this. _She's definitely up to no good._

 _Wha- Melvin? What d'you mean? I know she's not the nicest person around, but every royal is at least a little stuck up. I don't think it's right to judge her based on that…._

 _Dude, I was a pretty well known criminal before you showed up, and I know when people are about to do some nasty stuff. I wouldn't trust that woman around anyone, much less your lover._

 _Ok, first of all, she's not my lover…_

 _Heh, not YET anyways._

 _Second of all, Glaceon's a strong person. Even if that woman tried to pull anything, I'm sure she can handle herself. Besides, what reason would she have to even attack her?_

 _Think about it. I know that's hard for you considering how dusty your mind room is, but just try your best._

 _...Well you didn't need to insult me like that…_

 _Remember what Froslass said earlier? About how the Alolan Ninetales family were predicted to be the ones the prophecy mentioned? I think there might some envy in there about Glaceon taking their spot, especially if the power of the land is as strong as Froslass says it is._

 _Oh shoot, you're right… Okay, I'll tell the rest of the group and see what they think._

"Don't bother." Flareon perked up when Espeon spoke up. "I was reading your mind the whole time, I heard everything."

Flareon cringed a bit as everyone looked at her with a confused expression. She turned to the rest of the group and began to speak.

"Flareon and Melvin were having a discussion in their head, and they're pretty sure that that Ninetales is up to no good. They think that she has some spite over the fact that Glaceon took their family's spot in the ability to obtain the power of the land, and that she's gonna try to do something to Glaceon in order to get it back."

Sylveon cringed at what she heard. "Well, in that case, we need to go help her! She could be in serious danger!"

"Hold it!" Everyone stopped what they were doing as Froslass floated into the room. "You will do no such thing. These accusations are absolutely foolish."

Jolteon grit his teeth and readied himself. "Oh yeah? And why's that? For all we know, Glaceon could be getting attacked right now!"

Froslass glared at Jolteon. "Lady Ninetales has made great strides in providing for the local community in order to fight the local plague. In fact, she and her family have been helping out the kingdom for generations. You all need to take a step back and think for a second before judging other people."

Flareon looked down, scratching the back of his head as he awkwardly shifted around. "I… I'm sorry ma'am. I didn't mean to insult her."

Froslass sighed and closed her eyes. "Look, Flareon… I know you're worried about her. But everything's going to be fine. You said it yourself, she's a strong fighter now. She can take care of herself."

Flareon nodded his head as he lay down on the floor. "I suppose we have no choice but to wait here until she gets back…"

The rest of the group sighed as they all lay down on their stomachs.

* * *

"My my, Miss Glaceon, you're looking quite tense. Are you sure you're fit to do this? If not, we can always delay it and try again when you're ready."

Glaceon looked over at Ninetales and shook her head. "O-Oh… No thanks, ma'am. I'm a little nervous, but I'll be quite okay."

Ninetales nodded and continued walking forward. "You know, it came as quite a shock that you ended up being the one to fulfill the prophecy. Many people, including myself, assumed that it would be my daughter here that would finally fulfill it. But I suppose that move you pulled off against the invading army is no joke."

Ninetales looked over at her daughter, who quickly looked away and down to the ground as she continued walking. Glaceon just chuckled a bit and kept looking forward.

"Well… I guess it was quite a surprise to me, too. I never thought I'd have a move that strong… ever, really. I didn't even know the prophecy existed until I had already used the move…"

Ninetales flinched and grit her teeth a little bit as she heard that. "Oh… Is that so…?"

Glaceon giggled and nodded her head. "Hehe, yup… But I guess that's in the past now, right? Nothing I can really do about it except for finishing this up, and I'm gonna do just that!"

Ninetales merely just nodded as the group arrived at the ruins. "Well now, here we are: Kyurem Ruins. Are you sure you're ready to go ahead?"

Glaceon nodded and started walking in. "As ready as I'll ever me, Miss Ninetales. Don't worry, I'll make sure to do well for everyone. Is there anything I should know before going in?"

The Alolan Vulpix stepped forward to speak. "Well, there's going to many different tests in there. Each test will-"

However, Ninetales cut her off. She shushed her and shook her head as she turned back to Glaceon. "Ah, sorry about that. She's just a child, so she wants to glorify things like this as much as possible. Kids, am I right?~"

Glaceon blinked a bit, but slowly nodded her head in response. "Y-Yeah… Kids. Right."

"Anyways, I'm sure you'll have nothing to worry about, sweetheart. As long as you have Freezer Burn, you should be okay! Just believe in yourself and I'm sure it'll all work out."

Glaceon smiled and nodded her head, though she did it genuinely this time. "Wow, thank you, miss! I'll make sure to keep that in mind." With that, she marched forward, entering the large doors of the ruins. Once she was out of hearing range, Ninetales whistled and a group of Weavile appeared behind her.

"Well now, you all came here faster than I thought."

The frontmost Weavile kneeled down in front of here. "You know that we're never late, Miss Ninetales, especially on matters this concerning."

Ninetales nodded her head. "Quite. Now then, I assume you're all caught up on the situation at hand?"

"Of course. That Glaceon has stolen our birthright, and we need to stop her from taking the power of the land. Normally, I could remove filth like her myself, but those friends of hers concern me. I want you all to hide out in the ruins, and make sure to set some traps for them if they try and interfere. Am I understood?"

The Weavile all nodded and saluted. "Understood, Lady Ninetales. We will remove any and all intruders if they try and interfere."

"Good. I'm glad I could rely on you all. You're dismissed."

Once she had said that, the group disappeared without a trace as they quickly ran into the ruins. A mischievous smile appeared on Ninetales' face as she watched them run in.

"Everything's falling into place…~ Don't worry, my dear daughter, the power of your birthright will soon be yours~"

The Vulpix looked down at the ground, swallowing as she nodded. "Y...Yes Mother."

 **End of Chapter 23**

 **Alright, only a day after the last chapter, awesome! Now it's time for you all to wait another 4 months until the next one :P. In all seriousness, thanks for reading! Make sure to like and favorite if you enjoyed, and leave a review if you liked or disliked anything, as I love seeing you all here! On that note, I'd like to thank you all for reading, and have a nice day!**


	24. Chapter 24

**And while I'm on a hot streak, have another chapter! Hope you enjoy.**

Chapter 24: Of Princes and Princesses!

As soon as Glaceon had entered the ruins, a chill went up her spine. The place certainly earned its name, as the entire thing seemed worn down and broken. The framework seemed to be… relatively intact, but the inner parts of the first building seemed to be collapsing in on itself.

But that wasn't what bothered Glaceon the most about this place. No, what bothered her the most was how empty it felt. This was the first time in a while where she truly felt like there was nothing left. No noise, no people, not a single soul but her in this place. The creepy statues of Reshiram and Zekrom surrounding the main entrance weren't very good either… She quickly shook it off, however. She had a job to do, and she was gonna do it. As she approached the main entrance, it lit up with a light blue hue. A small ball of energy floated out of it, floating around Glaceon, almost as if it was analyzing her.

"DNA check complete. Descendant of Kyurem recognized. You may proceed."

Once the little ball had done its thing, the door into the deeper part of the ruins had opened. Glaceon was… confused, to say the least. Nonetheless, she continued down the hallway as the little ball floated beside her.

"Okay… So, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but… This is all just a _little_ creepy to me. Are you like… a computer, or something?"

"I am the soul of the treasure that has been sealed away within the ruins of this temple. My abilities are far ranging, though I'm sorry if my tone of voice has startled you at all. It's been so long since I've had someone try and attempt to claim me, so I'm a little rusty."

Glaceon was getting even more weirded out at this point. _A… soul? In the power of the land? This is getting weirder and weirder…_

"Now then, I'm sure you understand the importance of this item, so I must put you through some tests to make sure you are worthy of wielding my power. Are you prepared to face these upcoming trials?"

Glaceon nodded as she continued to walk through the corridors. "Of course. My friends are relying on me to do this, and so I will."

"Ah… Yes. Your friends. Very well then, we're approaching the first trial: The trial of body."

As Glaceon and the spirit got closer, she couldn't help but notice her surroundings. The entire place was lined with dark blue stone, with pillars throughout the entire area. All the torches on the walls had bright red flames, lighting the way for them as they continued into the first room. As Glaceon opened the door, dust fell down as the door showed its age with a loud creaking noise filling up the room. Once she walked in, she immediately noticed that the room was not nearly as well lit as the previous corridor.

"Hm… Seems a little dark in here, doesn't it? And the last room was so well lit…" Glaceon frowned.

"This test will be one of your sixth sense. The room is purposely set up in a way where you will not be able to see or hear your opponent well. You will have to use your instincts in order to defeat them." The spirit floated around her. "I trust that you will do well in this test, for it is the easiest of the three."

 _Well, at least I know how many trials there are now… Still though, I've never fought in conditions like these before. I'll have to be careful._ Glaceon nodded at the spirit's words. "Of course. I'll take them out no problem."

As she said that, the spirit disappeared, while Glaceon started looking around for a bit. _Um… Where-_ Before she could finish that thought, something slammed right into her and sent her flying. Glaceon cringed as she was slow to get up, shaking herself as she tried to find whatever hit her.

"How in… I didn't even hear whatever hit me!" Glaceon frantically looked around, trying to find her assailant as she was drilled in the side by something blunt. She rolled across the ground, groaning in pain as she quickly shook herself off.

"Okay… Okay Glaceon. Get it together. Don't rely on your sight or hearing. Focus on…" She sniffed for a bit, smirking when she finally picked up on something. "...Your smell." She turned to the direction of the smell and fired off her Ice Beam, presumably hitting something and freezing it in place. Glaceon followed up with a Tackle, which broke the figure free but caused it to fly across the room. She could see it disappear as it landed on the ground.

However, she could tell it wasn't over. Another smell came to her, and she focused on trying to take it out. Something whizzed past her shoulder as she barely managed to roll out of the way. She fired a strong Blizzard attack back in that direction and managed to damage whatever fired at her. It disappeared in a puff of purple smoke, and once it did, the lights came back on in the room. The spirit came back down to her.

"Very impressive. Even if you used an… unconventional tactic, you still managed to defeat your opponents. This was a simple test, but the next two will truly test your abilities. Now, let us continue."

Glaceon smirked as she walked through the door to the next hallway. She wouldn't lie: She was starting to get a very big head. With how easily she had managed to beat that first trial, that nervous feeling had completely left her now. She turned to the spirit, the smirk still on her face as she started to ask some questions.

"So, what's the next trial about? You gonna test how fast I am? You gonna see how smart I am?"

"Not necessarily. This next test will be one of mental fortitude. If you are to wield me, I must make sure that you'll be able to withstand any mental trouble you may face."

"Pfft." Glaceon rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'm ready for anything. Gimme your best shot, I can handle anything you throw at me!"

"Heh…" It seemed like the spirit was… chuckling? "That's what they all say. But, if you're so confident, then let us begin."

The two entered the next room and prepared for the next trial.

* * *

It had been about an hour since Glaceon had left the castle to do her trials. Flareon was still worried sick, and everyone knew it. He was pacing around the room, deep in thought as he stared at the ground. The others were constantly stealing glances over at him, though not daring to look for long periods of time. He looked… incredibly stressed.

However, after a while, Jolteon had had enough. "Alright dude, I'm sorry, but I can't stand seeing you like this. Would you just give it a rest? She's gonna be _fine_!"

Flareon sighed and shook his head. "I know, I know, but… Ugh, I just can't shake off the feeling that something bad's gonna happen to her."

Sylveon walked up to Flareon and patted him on the back with her feelers. "Aw, honey… You've gotta have more faith in her. Glaceon's a nice, strong young woman. She's gonna be fine in there."

Flareon clicked his tongue. "You're right… I guess I'm just on edge cause I can't be in there with her."

Leafeon nodded. "I guess that's fair. But listen, we're all worried about her, big guy. But we know she's gonna be fine. Heck, I bet she could probably come back within the next hour!"

Flareon smiled and nodded his head. "Heh, yeah… Okay, I believe you. That helped. Thanks a lot, you guys."

Leafeon gave him a toothy smile. "No problem, Fluffy~"

* * *

As Glaceon stepped into the next room, she noticed… nothing. Not that it was bland, no, but rather there was literally nothing in here. It was just an abyss of darkness and black. Glaceon wasn't scared, but… confused.

"Uh, hey, spirit thing? Why isn't there anything in here?"

No response.

"...Spirit? Hello? Did you just ditch me here?"

Nothing.

"Listen, I know this is supposed to test my mental fortitude, but I have no idea what I'm doing here!"

"Aw, is the little Ice type stuck on what to do? How pathetic."

Glaceon's attention was pulled away from her current predicament as she heard a familiar voice. _Wait, is that-?_ "Flareon?"

As she turned to the source of the voice, Flareon's figure started to emerge out from the shadows. "Yeah, it's me alright. I came here to see if you'd actually did what you were supposed to for once. But, once again, I'm left disappointed."

Glaceon couldn't help but be hurt by that. "Wh-What? Flareon, I haven't failed, I'm still-"

"Still doing the trial, right. It's not like you're wasting all of our time by doing this or anything. I would've been done 5 times over by now if I were doing it. But you're too much of a screw up to do it that fast."

Glaceon got a little mad. "Y-You… You don't mean that at all, do you?"

Flareon smirked. "Oh, I mean it, alright. And not just me, either." As he said that, the rest of the group started to appear out of the shadows. "I decided to bring everyone along to let them vent out how they feel to you."

Glaceon's eyes were wide as she realized what was about to happen. Sylveon was the first one to step up and say something. "Unbelievable. I gave you every chance not to fuck up in something as simple as proclaiming your feelings and you couldn't even do that right. You're worthless."

Espeon stepped up next. "You're always just getting in our way, aren't you? First with your idiotic sacrifice on the mountain, and now this. You really just can't stop your emotions, can you?"

Tears started forming in Glaceon's eyes as the insults kept coming. "P-Please, s-stop… I-I'm sorry…"

Leafeon scowled at her. "Look at you, crying and broken on the floor. And to think I was ever _your_ best friend. I might as well have been best friends with a snowman. At least that wouldn't hold us all back."

Glaceon put her forepaws on her head, the tears streaming down her face. _This… This isn't real… Th-This can't be real… Th-They don't feel… that way… Do they…?_

Vaporeon walked forward, right next to Flareon with a smug smirk on her face. "You're nothing, Glaceon. Nothing but a little kitten who wants some love. Unfortunately for you, we've run out of patience with you. It's time for you to get lost!"

The rest of them echoed the last part of the sentence, as an echo of "Get lost!" echoed throughout the room. Tears were streaming out of Glaceon's eyes as she buried her head in her paws.

 _S-Stop! Please! Please make it stop! I can't take it anymore! Someone please help me!_

* * *

 _Someone please help me!_

Flareon's eyes opened and he jumped out of his blanket, startled at the sound he had heard.

 _That… That was Glaceon's voice! She's in trouble!_

Flareon started running toward the main gate as Jolteon slowly opened his eyes. "Wh… What the? Flareon, where're you going?!"

Flareon didn't even bother to look back as he reached the front door. "Glaceon's in trouble! I've gotta help her!"

Jolteon's eyes widened as Flareon disappeared behind the front door to the castle. He quickly got out of his blanket and went to the others. _This isn't good… I better go tell the others._

* * *

Glaceon couldn't handle this anymore. The insults… the degradation… it was all so overwhelming. She was laying down in a puddle of her own tears. However, Vaporeon thought it wasn't enough.

"Now now, Glaceon… Don't cry. Flareon's in good hands~"

She looked up for a split second, only to see Vaporeon kiss Flareon smack on the mouth. Her pupils shrunk as she felt her heart shatter into a million pieces. She wanted so badly to look away, but she couldn't. Her eyes were fixed on the scene in front of her: The scene of the man she loved turning his back on her. This was it. This was gonna be her end.

 _Glaceon, hold on, I'm coming!_

...That voice… It felt familiar to her.

 _Don't give up! I know you can hang in there! I'm right behind ya!_

 _...Flareon…?_

Glaceon blinked the tears away from her eyes. She looked around the scene. _Wait a minute, something's wrong…_ She turned to Umbreon, who was… wait, huh?!

Glaceon grit her teeth, stamping her forepaws into the ground. "You… You're not real at all! This is just a trick!"

Flareon chuckled. "Oh wonderful, now she's gone insane… Look, just do us all a favor and get lost, would ya?"

Glaceon's fear and sadness was all gone. As she turned to the Flareon in front of her, there was only one emotion on her face: rage. Pure, unadulterated rage filled her as green sparks coursed through her body.

"How dare you do this to me… How DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOUUUUUUUU!" As she screamed, she fired off a massive Freezer Burn, turning around in a 360 to make sure all of the group was hit with the attack. On contact, every single one of them disappeared in a puff of smoke, taking every ounce of negative energy that they had with them. Glaceon landed on the ground, panting from the adrenaline rushing through her body.

As she got down, the spirit floated down next to her. "Impressive. Very impressive. No one has managed to get past this part in thousands of years. I must say that you are quite the Pokemon."

She angrily turned to the spirit. "I'm done."

"...Pardon?"

"I'm done with these games! How dare you try and force those lies on me?!"

"It is all part of the test. I have to make sure you're worthy of the right to wie-"

"Then how's this for proving my worth?!" Glaceon charged up another Freezer Burn, firing it at the door as it blasted right through it. In fact, it was so powerful, it even made a hole in the door behind it. Glaceon smirked, using Quick Attack to dash through the holes, immediately skipping the third trial.

"...Note to self: Don't get on her bad side when it comes to that Flareon." The spirit floated after her to try and catch up.

Once it did, the two of them were in the Chamber of Creation, as it was called. "Well… I must say, this has been… very unorthodox, to say the least. Usually you'd have to pass 3 trials in order to be worthy of wielding me, but…"

Glaceon gave the spirit a death stare. "...You… seem more than worthy. Also incredibly frightening…"

The spirit floated back into the staff on the pedestal near the back of the room. Glaceon walked over to it and picked it up.

"It has been over a thousand years, but now I have found a new master. Mistress, I will do my best to serve you for many years to come."

Glaceon smiled and nodded, but another voice cut her off. "Years? That might be a bit of an exaggeration. Perhaps minutes would be a better word."

Glaceon turned back to see… " _sigh_ How did I know that you'd follow me in here?"

* * *

Flareon was absolutely rushing through the snow. His heart was racing. He'd never run this fast in his life. All he could think about was Glaceon and how she was doing.

 _I… I gotta get there! I gotta go and help her! If I waste even a second, she could die! And I refuse to let that happen!_

 _Need some help with that, Floofy?_

Flareon was a little surprised at who he heard. _Melvin?_

 _Yeah. I was thinking I could take over real quickly. You know, until we get there._

 _And why would I let you do that?_

 _Because this was originally my body, so I'm more used to it, which means less chance of us stumbling over ourselves. Besides, I'm just naturally faster than you._

Flareon considered it for a quick second before nodding his head. _Ok, fine, go ahead._

His body flashed a bright yellow for a quick second before simmering down, Melvin appearing after the light dimmed. "Hehe… It's showtime, baby!"

He flew across the ground at lightning speed, with the rest of the back looking on in shock. Espeon was the first to say something. "W-Wait, did Flareon just let Melvin take over?"

Sylveon chuckled. "N-Now now, I'm sure there's a very logical explanation for why Flareon would do something like that…"

Jolteon grit his teeth. "Ok, now we need to hurry! If we don't catch up, Melvin's gonna screw everything up!"

The rest of the group nodded as they began to increase their pace.

* * *

The Alolan Ninetales started walking around the room a bit, looking at the scenery laid out before her. "You know, this place looks awfully boring… Could use some renovations, hm?"

Glaceon didn't bother responding to that. She just sat there, a hard look on her face. Ninetales just clicked her tongue and smiled at her.

"Now now, Glaceon. No need to be so adamant! Just give me the staff and nothing will need to go down. No fighting, no bargaining, nothing." She smirked at Glaceon, who merely hid the staff behind her back.

"Yeah, right, like I'd actually give it to you. I went through hell to get this, and I'm not letting _you_ of all people have it!"

Ninetales sighed and shook her head. "Oh, sweetie… You don't seem to understand, do you?" She whistled, and as she did, a trio of Weavile came into the room. Once she began speaking again, her voice became grave. "I'm not asking for it. I'm demanding that you give me my rightful heritage."

A bit of panic began to form inside of Glaceon as she was becoming outnumbered. She swallowed and looked down to the staff.

 _You don't need me._

Glaceon looked at it with a confused expression. _Huh?_

 _You have your friends. I can grant you power, yes. But all the power in the world won't mean anything when you're outnumbered._

As he finished that, a huge Flamethrower burst through the doorway, blasting Ninetales and her Weaviles all over the room. Ninetales looked incredibly pissed as she got up. "Urgh! Who has the balls?!"

Jumping through the hole in the wall, Melvin landed on his feet with a bright smirk as he stared down the Ninetales. "Oh boy, a whole room of ice types! This is gonna be fun!"

Glaceon looked a little scared as Melvin entered the room, backing away a bit as he began to go after the Weaviles. "Oh no, M-Melvin?"

 _Don't worry about Melvin, I've got him under control._

Flareon's voice again… She didn't know why she believed that it was actually him, but… She had other issues as of right now. She looked to her right to see Ninetales looking at her in disgust.

"That staff… Give me the staff! Give it to me right now!" Ninetales charged up an attack, firing off a Moonblast in Glaceon's direction. Glaceon swung the staff in front of her to try and block it, but as she did, a barrier came in to reflect the attack right back. It bounced off of the barrier and hit the wall behind Ninetales.

"Woah… The staff protected me!" She looked down at the staff in surprise as it glowed with a blue hue.

 _Correct. I have many abilities that should aid you in this battle. Shall we clean up?_

Glaceon smiled before smirking at Ninetales. "You bet." She swung the staff around in a circle in front of her, causing an iron chain to be created in front of her. The chain quickly went towards Ninetales, wrapping around leg with a tight grip.

"Wh- What? Get this off of me!"

Her demands were not met as Glaceon swung the staff upwards, causing the chain to fling Ninetales up to the ceiling. She hit it with a loud crash before Glaceon swung the staff back down, causing the chain to throw Ninetales into the ground. She couldn't help but giggle.

"Oh, how the mighty royals have fallen~ Is the staff a bit too much for you, sweetie?~"

Ninetales growled, jumping out of her crater as she caught Glaceon off guard with a blizzard. Glaceon flinched and skid backwards a bit before starting Ninetales down again.

"Ngh… Well, in that case, let's dance!"

Meanwhile, Melvin was having an absolute field day. The Weaviles kept trying to overwhelm him, but everytime they tried to jump him, he'd just fire off an Overheat and send them all backwards.

"Wow, this feels amazing! I can't even remember the last time I enjoyed myself like this!" Melvin charged up a Flare Blitz and sent the leader of the Weavile flying through a wall. "Seeya later, idiot!"

Flareon groaned at the sight. _Ok, maybe this wasn't such a great idea…_

 _Aw, c'mon, I'm just having a little fun! It's been a while since I last battled, let me enjoy this!_

 _Eh… Alright, fine. As long as you don't jeopardize Glaceon's safety, I guess…_

With a wide grin, Melvin turned to the other two Weavile, who were starting to cower in fear. Melvin slowly walked towards them, licking his lips as he eyed them up. "So! Who wants to give Uncle Melvin a hug?"

The two of them quickly got up and ran away through the hole that their leader was sent through. Melvin clicked his tongue and turned to the other battle going on.

 _Why doesn't anyone wanna give me a hug?_

 _Maybe because you beat up their leader and generally just look really unsettling?_

 _Oh please, even with the weird eye on my forehead I still look adorable. It's hard to make a Flareon look bad._

 _I mean, I guess? Why would you even try to do that?_

 _Oh hey, Glaceon's kicking the royal's ass._

Melvin was actually right on this one. Glaceon had figured out how to use another spell, this one trapping Ninetales in a bubble as she flung her around the room, bouncing her off the walls, floor, and ceiling. Melvin sat down and watched the Ice and Fairy type bounce all over the place. Glaceon looked over at Melvin and raised an eyebrow.

"Uh… Melvin? You gonna help?"

He quickly shook his head. "Nah, I think you've got this under control. I'm just here to watch the show. You got any popcorn?"

Glaceon giggled. "No, but you'll probably want it. I don't think I'm done toying with her yet."

Melvin blinked at the comment, rubbing his eyes to make sure he heard that right.

 _Did… Did she just…?_

 _Huh… Didn't think she had it in her._

 _And here I was thinking Glaceon was innocent._

 _Not gonna lie, it's pretty hot._

 _Melvin, don't you dare._

 _I'm just saying, dude. I'm just saying._

Once the bubble spell ran out, Ninetales collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily as she struggled to even look in Glaceon's direction.

"Gagh… Y-You… How dare…"

Glaceon yawned and walked over to the Ninetales. "Alright, I think you've had enough…" She pointed the staff at the Ninetales, surrounding her with Psychic energy as she had her hover above the ground a bit. Not too long after, she flicked the staff up and to the right, flinging Ninetales through the ceiling and into the horizon.

Melvin conceded control to Flareon once she had done that, and Flareon couldn't help but feel a smile crack onto his face. "Wow Glaceon, I… That was really impressive."

Glaceon perked up, turning backwards to see Flareon with his own body again. She blushed a little, though she still smirked at him. "Heh, well, you know how it is… Not gonna let some blue blood take me down~"

Flareon chuckled, though it was short lived as the rest of the group barged in. Jolteon rushed in and scanned the room. "Alright, where's the-" He looked over at Flareon and Glaceon. "...trouble…"

Sylveon smiled. "Well well, looks like the power couple managed to ward off the danger~ I'm impressed, you two~"

Glaceon got all red in the face as Sylveon said that. "Sylveon, we're not a couple! So stop saying that!"

Flareon tapped Glaceon tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, Glaceon?"

Glaceon turned over to Flareon. "Hm? What is it, Flareon?"

But she didn't get a response. Instead, she got a full blown kiss on the lips. The red on her face intensified by an incredible amount. She… she felt amazing. It was the first time she'd ever really kissed someone… And she wasn't gonna pass it up. She closed her eyes and leaned right back into it as some hooting and hollering were happening near them.

"Oh my Arceus! It happened! It finally happened, you guys!" Leafeon was bouncing all around, acting as if _she_ was the one who was getting kissed right now.

"I… Oh, this is too much… They're so cute~" Sylveon was swooning right now.

After a little bit, Flareon pulled away from the kiss, smiling at Glaceon as he looked her in the eyes. "Heh… Sorry I didn't do that earlier, Glaceon. I've been meaning to do it for a while."

Glaceon's blush didn't go away, but a goofy smile was on her face as she giggled a bit. "I… I'm just happy you did at all~"

Flareon chuckled and nuzzled her neck. "I love you, Glaceon."

Glaceon smiled and nuzzled him right back. "I love you too, sweetie~"

 **End Chapter 24**

 **Oh man, this one was fun to write~ Anyways! I hope you all enjoyed! If you did, Like and Favorite to show your support! If you didn't, write an angry review and tell me why you hated it and me! Anyways, have a nice day everyone, and thanks for reading!**


End file.
